Squeeze Argument

Refers to an argument made in patent litigation which uses the claim construction. the patent holder must advance to successfully show infringement by the defendant, against the patent holder to support invalidity. Essentially the argument is “if I infringe on that a basis, then the patent covers the prior art and must be invalid.” Although squeeze arguments are usually accepted in most jurisdictions, the term is largely English legal usage. Squeeze arguments are notably difficult to deploy in split systems, particularly German patent litigation, because of the separation of the infringement and nullity (validity) case tracks; in the United States they cannot typically be used directly, since the standard practice is for the Judge in a Markman Hearing. to resolve questions of claim construction without initial reference to the constructions impact on validity.

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