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Guidelines for Examination

 
 
Table of Contents - Guidelines for Examination
Part F The European Patent Application
Chapter IV – Claims (Art. 84 and formal requirements)
4. Clarity and interpretation of claims
4.18 Method of and means for measuring parameters referred to in claims
4.18
Method of and means for measuring parameters referred to in claims 

A further special case is where the invention is characterised by parameters. Provided that the conditions for defining the invention in this way are met (see  F-IV, 4.11), the definition of the invention should appear completely in the claim itself whenever this is reasonably practicable. In principle the method of measurement is necessary for the unambiguous definition of the parameter. The method of and means for measurement of the parameter values need not however be in the claims when:

(i)
the description of the method is so long that its inclusion would make the claim unclear through lack of conciseness or difficult to understand; in that case the claim should include a reference to the description, in accordance with Rule 43(6);
(ii)
a person skilled in the art would know which method to employ, e.g. because there is only one method, or because a particular method is commonly used; or 
(iii)
all known methods yield the same result (within the limits of measurement accuracy). 

However, in all other cases the method of and means for measurement should be included in the claims as the claims define the matter for which protection is sought (Art. 84).