What are the reasons for the doctrine of equivalents and prosecution history estoppel?

A prosecution history may limit a range of infringement available under the doctrine of equivalents. Prosecution history estoppel prevents a patentee from using the doctrine of equivalents to recapture subject matter surrendered during prosecution from the literal scope of a claim.

What is the prosecution history of a patent?

In the U.S., a prosecution history of a patent (i.e., the proceedings between the patent applicant and the USPTO from application filing to patent issuance) comes into play in the context of claim construction (for example, before a district court, before the PTAB in a post-grant proceeding, or in the eyes of a third …

What is patent estoppel?

“Estoppel” in patent law is a legal term meaning that a second argument is barred if it is inconsistent with a first argument. In a patent context, it bars an inventor from admitting something to the Patent and Trademark Office and later contradicting that admission, whether before the PTO or before a court.

What is prosecution history meaning?

prosecution history (plural prosecution histories) (US, law) The record of the examination of a patent application, including the original application, responses made by the examiner, and amendments made by the applicant to address objections raised by the examiner.

Where can I find patent prosecution history?

If you need to obtain a US patent file history, we recommend that you first check the Public PAIR (Patent Application Information Retrieval) system of the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

What is a file wrapper?

Legal Definition of file wrapper : a written record in a patent office of the application and negotiations for a patent preceding the issuance of the patent — see also file wrapper estoppel at estoppel sense 1.

Is USPTO site down?

Uspto.gov is UP and reachable by us.