Decision Keyword:
Stereophotogrammetry
Law applied:
EPC Art. 69 para. 1
PatG Section 14
Summary (Machine translation):
Features of a claim shall be interpreted in accordance with the function assigned to them by the invention.
Federal Supreme Court (BGH), Judgment of July 23, 2024 – X ZR 88/22 –
>>Download Judgment (machine translation)
Comment C&F:
In its “Stereophotogrammetry” decision (X ZR 88/22), the Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof – BGH) is addressing the interpretation of patent claims. According to the Court, the key factor in its ruling is that the features of a patent claim are interpreted in the context of the overall disclosure of the patent specification. At the same time, the Federal Court of Justice is using the decision to once again emphasize the function-oriented interpretation of patent claims, thus confirming an important principle of interpretation, on which the Düsseldorf court also bases its case law. The ruling makes it clear that the function-oriented interpretation of features of a patent claim can play an important role not only in patent infringement proceedings, but also – as in this case – in revocation suits, and can establish a distinction from the prior art cited in the revocation suit. From the patent holder’s point of view, it therefore appears expedient to describe the functionality of the listed features in detail when drafting the patent claims.
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Our commentary on the above judgment serves the purpose of making it easily accessible. Simplifications and incompleteness are due to this purpose. For a complete understanding, please refer to the original German version of the publication of the judgment.