The claims of the patent in suit related to a memory for sensing sub-groups of memory cells that required the activation of word line segments and corresponding sets of sense amplifiers in combination. The patentee argued that from one of the objectives of the invention mentioned in the original application, the skilled person could derive that the word line segments and the sense amplifiers could also be activated separately. The Board of Appeal held that generally the mere statement of an object is not a sufficient indication that all possible arrangements satisfying this objective were disclosed. The claims, according to the Board of Appeal, constitute an important element for determining what was presented to the skilled person as constituting the invention in the application as filed because the claims usually define the invention in the broadest terms.
The full summary of this case has been posted on Kluwer IP Law.
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