If a Patent Application were a sports car, the claims would be the motor. The specification would be the chassis. And the background would be the windshield. As such, the most important task of your patent attorney is to draft the claims of your patent application.

Now, if you have ever tried to read the claims of a US Patent, you would discover it is like trying to understand Greek with a Russian accent. In other words, it is really confusing. What you have to know is that reading the claims of a US patent is a lot like a BB gun booth at your county fair (think Mr. and Mrs. Smith with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie). To win Angelina’s affections, you’re going to have to hit all 15 targets. Miss one, and Angelina will move on down the list of the Daily Variety.

In any US Patent, those targets are represented by the elements inside those claims. Unless you find each and every one of those elements and/or limitations in the competing product or process, there is no patent infringement (you may have to consult with your Los Angeles Patent Attorney about the Doctrine of Equivalents).

To make things quicker and easier, you can just read the very first claim, or the independent claims. The other dependent claims are not really that important as it concerns patent infringement. If there’s patent infringement on claim 1, there’s going to have infringement on claim 35 (if it depends on claim 1, that is).

Example, if claim 1 includes: 1. A bucket, 2.) a mop, and 3.) a roll of duck tape, and your product has only a mop, and a bucket, but no roll of duck tape, there is no patent infringement. Note here, that if your product were to include all three elements, and also have a pencil, and a neck tie, there would still be patent infringement. That is to say, you can’t get around patent infringement by adding stuff to your invention or service.

However, on balance, it is always a good idea to consult with your Los Angeles patent attorney to determine whether your invention or service poses a direct or contributory patent infringement issue.