High Reversal Rate of Markman Decisions Weakens their Intended Value

In <i>Markman v. Westview Instruments, Inc.,</i> 517 U.S. 370 (1996), the Supreme Court held that patent claim construction is an issue of law to be decided exclusively by the court rather than the jury. As a result, district court judges now routinely conduct what is referred to as pretrial <i>Markman</i> hearings in order to resolve disputes about the meaning of words or phrases in patent claims. Prior to <i>Markman,</i> claim construction took place at trial and was decided by the judge or the jury with appropriate instructions from the court.

22 minute readDecember 01, 2003 at 11:36 AM
By
Richard C. Komson
Jessica L. Rando
High Reversal Rate of Markman Decisions Weakens their Intended Value

InMarkman v. Westview Instruments, Inc., 517 U.S. 370 (1996), the Supreme Court held that patent claim construction is an issue of law to be decided exclusively by the court

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