The most challenging aspects when first encountering a patent specification are likely the unique terminology and structure used in the patent industry.
When describing a patented invention, the technology must be articulated with enough clarity to leave no room for alternatives, yet expressed broadly enough to avoid unduly narrowing the rights. This often leads to the conventional use of specific patent terms. Many are derived from Sino-Korean vocabulary, but become understandable with careful reading.
The structure of a specification also follows a distinct format. However, since it uses a nearly fixed template, becoming familiar with the structure makes it less difficult.
A specification generally follows this structure:
Bibliographic Information: Title (Title of Invention), Abstract, Representative Drawing
The patent system grants exclusive rights for a fixed period in exchange for ‘disclosure’. Fundamentally, technology is considered a cultural asset shared by humanity and not subject to monopoly, but the system grants a ‘special’ monopoly. Hence the name ‘patent’ (Teukheo, meaning ‘special permission’ in Korean).
Therefore, ‘disclosure’ and ‘searchability’ are crucial in patents. The bibliographic information section facilitates easy searching and quick understanding of the patent’s essence. That’s why it appears first in the patent publication.
Reading every specification in its entirety during a patent search is practically difficult. Some technologies yield thousands of related patents. Without ample time, it’s physically overwhelming. Typically, patents identified through title, abstract, and classification are quickly assessed for relevance using the abstract and representative drawing. Only those deemed highly relevant are selected for a detailed review.
Specification Body: Claims, Description of the Invention
This contains the detailed content of the invention. It describes the invention thoroughly and among that description the specific configuration of the invention for which exclusive patent rights are desired is clearly restated in the claims section. It’s convenient to write in a deductive style, placing the claims first, followed by the description of the invention.
The description of the invention is further divided into a detailed description and a brief description of the drawings.
The detailed description includes the technical field, background art, content of the invention (problem to be solved, solution, effects, specific embodiments, examples, etc.).
* Bibliographic Info
* Title (Title of Invention)
* Abstract
* Representative Drawing
* Specification Body
* Claims
* Claim 1
* Claim 2
* …
* Description of the Invention
* Detailed Description
* Technical Field
* Background Art
* Content of the Invention
* Problem to be Solved
* Solution
* Effects
* Specific Embodiments
* Brief Description of Drawings
* Drawings
There are truly three crucial parts in a specification: Claims, Detailed Description for Carrying Out the Invention, and Drawings. The rest is supplementary.
Claims: Literally define the scope of the invention for which patent protection is sought. This also implies that not every detail of the invention needs to be claimed. Claims consist of multiple individual claims (Cheongguhang). Each claim represents a single invention, so the claims section can be understood as a bundle of inventions for which exclusivity is requested.
Detailed Description for Carrying Out the Invention: This part describes the content of the invention seeking patent protection in detail. It is submitted to ensure accurate understanding of the claims. In principle, only the matter defined in the claims constitutes the patent right, and the detailed description is for reference. However, since understanding the patent’s content clearly just by reading the claims is often difficult, the detailed description is consulted when determining the scope of patent rights (from where to where). It is best to write this section as detailed and comprehensive as possible.
Drawings: Also for reference, but crucial for visually presenting and understanding the abstract technology described in words. Drawings, or seeing the actual product, often clarify the invention and claims.
Therefore, drawings serve as an important standard for interpreting claims.
When reading a specification, starting with the drawings makes it easier. Drawings depict the invention visually, leading to faster comprehension. Matching the drawings with the claims facilitates understanding the invention’s configuration. Helpfully, the detailed description includes reference numerals corresponding to elements in the drawings. After that, reading the detailed description and effects will complete the understanding.
How to Read Claims
The most critical part of the specification is the claims. No matter how much content is written in the detailed description, if it’s not in the claims, it’s generally not covered by the patent right. That’s how important claims are.
As claims define the scope for which patent rights are established within the technical content, when reading a specification, focus on the claims. Think of reading the other parts primarily to understand the claims. In fact, if you can understand the claims, comprehending the rest isn’t difficult.
Claims are usually written by listing the components of the invention, so identifying the main components makes the technology easy to grasp. Let’s look at an example.
Example 1: Air Sterilizing Purifier (KR100809005)
[Claim 1]
An air sterilizing purifier, characterized by comprising:
a housing (10) having a main body (11) formed with an inlet (12) at one end and an outlet (13) at the other end, and a cover (14) formed below the main body (11);
a pre-filter (20) disposed adjacent to the inlet (12) of said housing (10) for filtering dust contained in the incoming air;
an ozone lamp (30) provided inside said pre-filter (20);
a suction fan (40) rotatably configured inside said ozone lamp (30) to forcibly draw in and discharge air;
a far-infrared lamp (50) inside said suction fan (40) for purifying the air drawn in;
an elvan filter (60) formed centrally within the housing (10) inside said far-infrared lamp (50); and
a photocatalyst filter (70) formed between the inside of said elvan filter (60) and the inside of the outlet (13).
Most specifications contain multiple claims. Usually, the first claim is the most important, so understanding Claim 1 makes the remaining claims easier to grasp.
In the device invention example above, it’s standard practice to list components using conjunctions like “and,” “and,” “and…”. Thus, **underlining the word immediately preceding each ‘and’ makes the structure easy to identify.
a housing (10)(A) having a main body (11) formed with an inlet (12) at one end and an outlet (13) at the other end, and a cover (14) formed below the main body (11);
and,
a pre-filter (20)(B)** disposed adjacent to the inlet (12) of said housing (10) for filtering dust contained in the incoming air;
and,
an ozone lamp (30)(C)** provided inside said pre-filter (20);
and,
a suction fan (40)(D)** rotatably configured inside said ozone lamp (30) to forcibly draw in and discharge air;
and,
a far-infrared lamp (50)(E)** inside said suction fan (40) for purifying the air drawn in;
and,
an elvan filter (60)(F)** formed centrally within the housing (10) inside said far-infrared lamp (50);
and,
a photocatalyst filter (70)(G)** formed between the inside of said elvan filter (60) and the inside of the outlet (13).
Underlining the components before each ‘and’ reveals that this invention consists of 7 elements: Housing (A), Pre-filter (B), Ozone lamp (C), Suction fan (D), Far-infrared lamp (E), Elvan filter (F), and Photocatalyst filter (G).
The numbers next to each component, like (10), (20), etc., are reference numerals corresponding to those parts in the drawings. Housing is 10, pre-filter is 20, and so on.
Meanwhile, examining the effects described in the detailed description of the invention reveals that, among these, the far-infrared lamp (E), photocatalyst filter (G), and ozone lamp (C) are particularly important components contributing to the sterilization effect.
Example 2: Amazon’s Method for Placing an Order (US 5,960,411A)
[Claim 1]
A method of placing an order for an item comprising:
under control of a client system,
displaying information identifying the item; and
in response to only a single action being performed, sending a request to order the item along with an identifier of a purchaser of the item to a server system;
under control of a single-action ordering component of the server system,
receiving the request;
retrieving additional information previously stored for the purchaser identified by the identifier in the received request; and
generating an order to purchase the requested item for the purchaser identified by the identifier in the received request using the retrieved additional information;
the method is further characterized by
completing the purchase of the item in accordance with the generated order without using a shopping cart ordering model.
This time, let’s examine a method invention. This is Amazon’s registered patent for a method of purchasing products online.
In the case of a method invention, each “step” constitutes one element.
A method of placing an order for an item comprising:
under control of a client system,
displaying information identifying the item (Step A); and
in response to only a single action being performed, sending a request to order the item along with an identifier of a purchaser of the item to a server system (Step B);
under control of a single-action ordering component of the server system,
receiving the request (Step C);
retrieving additional information previously stored for the purchaser identified by the identifier in the received request (Step D); and
generating an order** to purchase the requested item for the purchaser identified by the identifier in the received request using the retrieved additional information (Step E);
the method is further characterized by completing the purchase of the item in accordance with the generated order without using a shopping cart ordering model (Step F).
Numbering each step and underlining the keywords makes understanding much easier. It becomes clear.
Claim 1 of the patent above consists of: Information Display (A), Request Sending (B), Request Receiving (C), Information Retrieving (D), Order Generation (E), and Order Completion (F).
Reading the detailed description reveals the effect of the invention is enabling product purchase through a single mouse click. Therefore, the retrieving (D) and order generation (E) steps within the claim are the characteristic parts.
Meanwhile, when reading specifications in foreign languages, Chrome’s automatic translation feature is useful. Additionally, using Google Patents allows viewing related patents, which is very convenient.
