Misstatement in Prosecution? No Matter; Silence During Standard-Setting? That’s OK, Too!

Matthew F Weil

1/01/2005
(Original Publish Date: 2/28/2003)

Over a vigorous dissent, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has ruled that the plain meaning of a claim trumps even directly contradictory statements in the prosecution history of the patent and withholding information concerning one's own patent portfolio from others in a standard-setting body is not necessarily actionable fraud. Rambus v. Infineon Technologies AG, Case Nos. 01-1449, -1583, -1604, -1641, 02-1174, -1192 (Fed. Cir. January 29, 2002).