Convergence of practice - Common practice as regards claim drafting and structure - March 2023

Oct 28, 2026

Common practice as regards claim drafting and structure approved on 22 March 2023 sets out harmonized formal requirements for patent offices. The practice addresses clarity, conciseness, and full support of claims by the description; the technical-feature basis for defining claimed subject matter; preferred claim elements such as prior-art-part and characterising portions; and limits and structuring rules for independent and dependent claims. It also covers formatting (typed/printed), handling reference signs to drawings, use of tables, and presentation of values and units in internationally recognized standards with SI units where appropriate.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages9

Reading Time23 min

AccessFree to download

Clarity, conciseness and support for claims in the description

Form and content of claims

Limit on the number of independent claims per category

Requirements for dependent claims

Number of claims

Applications containing drawings: reference signs

Tables

Values and units

Background

Convergence of practice Common practice as regards claim drafting and structure March 2023 Common practice as regards claim drafting and structure Considering that the claims define the matter for which protection is sought and determine, with the help of the description and the drawings, the extent of the protection conferred by a patent or a patent application; Considering that the formal requirements governing the drafting of the claims and their structure are therefore crucial; Considering the advantages for users of an alignment of the formal requirements governing the drafting of claims and their structure; Noting that any common practice will be implemented on a voluntary basis; Having regard to the opinion of the Committee on Patent Law; The Administrative Council at its meeting on 22 March 2023 approved the following common practice as regards as regards claim drafting and structure: Clarity, conciseness and support for claims in the description Offices are to provide that the claims are clear and concise and are fully supported by the description, in line with the provisions of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (Article 6 PCT) . Form and content of claims Offices are to provide that the definition of the matter for which protection is sought is in terms of the technical features of the invention. Offices are to provide that, whenever appropriate, claims contain: (i) a statement indicating those technical features of the invention which are necessary for the definition of the claimed subject-matter but which, in combination, are part of the prior art, (ii) a characterising portion, preceded by the words "characterised in that", "characterised by", "wherein the improvement comprises," or any other words to the same effect, stating concisely the technical features which, in combination with the features stated under (i), it is desired to protect. Offices are to provide that the claims are typed or printed, without prejudice to more liberal requirements for the purpose of obtaining a filing date. Limit on the number of independent claims per category Offices are to provide that, without prejudice to the requirement of unity of invention, a patent application may contain more than one independent claim in the same category (product, process, apparatus or use) only if the subject-matter of the application involves one of the following: (a) a plurality of interrelated products, (b) different uses of a product or apparatus, (c) alternative solutions to a particular problem, where it is inappropriate to cover these alternatives by a single claim. Requirements for dependent claims Offices are to provide that any claim which includes all the features of one or more other claims ("dependent claim") does so by a reference, if possible at the beginning, to the other claim or claims and then states the additional features claimed. Offices are to provide that all dependent claims referring back to a single previous claim, and all dependent claims referring back to several previous claims, are grouped together to the extent and in the most practical way possible. Number of claims Offices are to provide that the number of the claims is reasonable in consideration of the nature of the invention claimed. Offices are to provide that the applicant is to pay a fee if they exceed a certain number of claims, which is to be determined by the national Offices in accordance with the applicable national law. Applications containing drawings: reference signs linking the claims to the drawings ("reference signs") Offices are to provide that where the patent application contains drawings, the technical features mentioned in the claims are preferably followed by the reference signs relating to those features. When used, the reference signs must preferably be placed between parentheses. If including reference signs does not particularly facilitate quicker understanding of a claim, they should not be

FAQs

What is the purpose of this common practice on claim drafting and structure?

It aligns formal requirements for drafting claims and structuring them so that patent offices and users can benefit from a more uniform approach.

What standards must offices follow to ensure claims are clear and supported?

Offices must provide that claims are clear and concise and are fully supported by the description, consistent with the Patent Cooperation Treaty (Article 6 PCT).

How should dependent claims reference earlier claims?

Dependent claims must include the features of one or more other claims by reference, and dependent claims referring back to the same or multiple earlier claims must be grouped together in the most practical way possible.

Oct 28, 2026

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