Google Books Jeffrey G. Sheldon, How To Write a Patent Application sec. 6.3.5.3 (1992); see American Choc. Mach. Co. v. Helmstetter, 142 Fed. 978, 980 (2d Cir. 1905) ("The distinction between a combination and an aggregation lies in the presence or absence of mutuality of action. To constitute a combination it is essential that there should be some joint operation performed by its elements, producing a result due to their joint and co-operating action, while in an aggregation there is a mere adding together of separate contributions, each operating independently of the other. Defendant's machine comprises merely an aggregation of two devices. There is no mechanical or functional mutuality of operation. It is not a combination because there is no co-operation between the coating and jarring mechanisms, because the two devices do not unitedly perform their functions, and because they are not necessarily combined in one machine, and do not act together to secure the final result.") (citations omitted).
Guidelines for Examination in the EPO, section f-iv, 3.4 : "Independent and dependent claims": "(...) a dependent claim may refer back to one or more independent claims, to one or more dependent claims, or to both independent and dependent claims."
See Dennis Crouch, Doctrine of Equivalents: What Elements Are you Narrowing?, Patently-O (Sept. 30, 2014) ("In a prior generation patentees could typically get to a jury with an allegation of infringement doctrine of equivalents. However, the court has simultaneously tightened the rules for DOE infringement and loosened the rules summary judgment — result being that infringement under the doctrine of equivalents is now regularly a summary judgment issue."); Ray D. Weston, A Comparative Analysis of the Doctrine of Equivalents: Can European Approaches Solve an American Dilemma?, 39 J.L. & Tech. 35, 35-36 (1998) ("One perceived source of uncertainty and unpredictability in patent law is the doctrine of equivalents. Originally intended to provide inventors with a fair scope of protection for their patents, it has become a powerful means of extending a patent's scope, often in unpredictable ways.").
See Dennis Crouch, Doctrine of Equivalents: What Elements Are you Narrowing?, Patently-O (Sept. 30, 2014) ("In a prior generation patentees could typically get to a jury with an allegation of infringement doctrine of equivalents. However, the court has simultaneously tightened the rules for DOE infringement and loosened the rules summary judgment — result being that infringement under the doctrine of equivalents is now regularly a summary judgment issue."); Ray D. Weston, A Comparative Analysis of the Doctrine of Equivalents: Can European Approaches Solve an American Dilemma?, 39 J.L. & Tech. 35, 35-36 (1998) ("One perceived source of uncertainty and unpredictability in patent law is the doctrine of equivalents. Originally intended to provide inventors with a fair scope of protection for their patents, it has become a powerful means of extending a patent's scope, often in unpredictable ways.").
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP), Ninth ed., Rev. 01.2024, §2173 ("Claims Must Particularly Point Out and Distinctly Claim the Invention"), https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/s2173.html (accessed 04 Jan. 2025)
"embodiment = a specific, disclosed example of how an inventive concept, that is more generally stated elsewhere in the disclosure, can be put into practice." in "INTERNATIONAL PATENT CLASSIFICATION (Version 2009)"(PDF). WIPO. p. 33. Archived from the original(PDF) on 27 July 2011. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
"embodiment = a specific, disclosed example of how an inventive concept, that is more generally stated elsewhere in the disclosure, can be put into practice." in "INTERNATIONAL PATENT CLASSIFICATION (Version 2009)"(PDF). WIPO. p. 33. Archived from the original(PDF) on 27 July 2011. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
