In 1963 the Supreme Court noted that patent applications “constitute one of the most difficult legal instruments to draw with accuracy.” (See Sperry v. Florida Ex. Rel. Florida Bar, 373 U.S. 379, 383 (1963)).
Thorough Prior Art Searching and Careful Claim Drafting after Festo and Johnson & Johnston
In 1963 the Supreme Court noted that patent applications "constitute one of the most difficult legal instruments to draw with accuracy." (<i>See Sperry v. Florida Ex. Rel. Florida Bar</i>, 373 U.S. 379, 383 (1963)). Recent decisions by both the Supreme Court and the Federal Circuit have made this task even more difficult. In particular, the Supreme Court's 2002 decision in <i>Festo v. Shoketsu Kinzoku Kogyo Kabushiki Co., Ltd.</i> (535 U.S. 722) and the Federal Circuit's 2003 <i>Festo</i> remand decision, as well as the Federal Circuit's 2002 <i>Johnson & Johnston</i> (285 F. 3d 1046) (344 F. 3d 1359) decisions, all had significant narrowing effects on the doctrine of equivalents.
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