Reising intern James D. Stevens Jr. authored a paper “Functional Claiming of Inventions and Related Issues of Indefiniteness.” The paper was published in Volume 94, Issue 2 of the University of Detroit Mercy Law Review (Spring 2017). In the paper, Stevens discusses the recent history of invocation of 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) (pre-AIA, para. 6) and the new standard of invocation of this paragraph under the Federal Circuit case Williamson v. Citrix Online. The paper provides a synthesis of recent case law on this issue and proposes certain approaches to take as to mitigate any negative effects of this new standard, particularly with respect to the use of “nonce” words.
