Cloning method claims into other statutory claim types [+Drafting Option Only]


ClaimMaster lets you quickly convert method claims into other statutory claim types, such as device or computer-readable medium (CRM) . The conversion process uses natural language processing (NLP) techniques, but is highly customizable based on user-defined templates for claim cloning and flexible claim numbering/selection schemes. You can also optionally apply GPT post-processing prompts to the generated output to further improve its style and grammar. To convert existing method claims to other claim type(s), perform the following steps:



Getting Started

  • From the ClaimMaster Ribbon, click on the Patent Drafting Tools menu, then select Clone Method Claims into Other Claim Types:

       

       



Feature Options

Once you select the feature from the menu above, the claim conversion window will come up. It will be "docked" to the left side of your Word document when it launches, unless automatic docking of patent drafting windows is disabled in Patent Drafting Preferences (i.e., the "Dock drafting windows" checkbox is unchecked).  The following operations are available for this feature:




    1. Select one or more claims to convert to another claim type, such as device/apparatus, system, or CRM.  If you click at the top "Claims" node of the claim tree, you'll be able to select/unselect all available claims for conversion.
    2. To help with the method claim selection, if you hover over any claim number in the claim tree, you will be able to review the text of the claim in the small tooltip window that appears below the claim number. 
    3. If you've made any changes to the claims while this drafting window is open, click on the "Reload claims" button to re-parse the claims in the open Word document.
    4. This table lists all of the available claim cloning templates configured in ClaimMaster.  You can select multiple templates at the same time by holding the Ctrl key and clicking on the items in the list with a mouse or pressing Enter.  Each template can correspond to a statutory claim type, such as "device", "system," or "CRM".  Each selected template will generate a separate set of cloned claims based on the specified method claims.  The sequential order of selected templates in the list will control how the cloned claims are numbered. The numbering of the 1st claim in the generated set will start at the specified "starting claim number (item 7) and continue till the last claim in the cloned set.
      1. "[Selected Method Claims]" is a special placeholder if you want to add the selected method claims into the cloned claims set, but typically not in beginning. If it is selected, the selected method claims will be added to the cloned set and numbered according to their position in the templates list and the first starting claim # for the cloned set.

               

    1. Use this drop-down to select a previously stored group of templates for cloning (e.g., device +crm+system claims).
    2. Use this field to specify the name of the group of templates for adding or removing.
    3. Press "Save" to save the currently selected group of templates name (as named in item 6).  Press delete to delete the currently specified group (as named in item 6).
    4. Use these arrows to adjust the order of templates in the list (select one of the templates and press "up" or "down" arrows to move it up/down the list. The order of templates will affect claim numbering - each selected template will generate a set of cloned claims (based on the method claims selected in in the claim tree) and these claims will be numbered sequentially, starting from the specified "starting claim number" (item 7) and then continuing to the end of the cloned claim set.  The total number of cloned claims will be shown in above the preview window.


Example 1:  You've selected one cloning template from the list (Device), have selected 5 method claims for cloning, and your starting claim # is set to 6 (set in item 7 below). As a result, the following 5 cloned claims will be shown in the preview window:

      • Device claims: 6-10

               

Example 2:  You've selected two cloning templates from the list (CRM, followed by Device), have selected 5 method claims for cloning, and your starting claim # is set to 6 (set in item 7 below). As a result, the following 10 cloned claims will be shown in the preview window:

      • CRM claims: 6-10
      • Device claims: 11-16

       

Example 3:  You've selected three cloning templates from the list (Device, followed by CRM, followed by [Selected Method Claims]), have selected 5 method claims for cloning and your starting claim # is set to "1". As a result, the following 15 cloned claims will be shown in the preview window:

      • Device claims: 1-5
      • CRM claims: 6-10
      • Method claims (originals): now renumbered as 11-16

  

    1. Click this button to open settings for claim cloning templates.
    2. This text field specifies the first claim # that will be used for the cloned claim set.  The first claim in the cloned set will begin at this number and the rest of the cloned claims will follow, based on the order of the selected claim cloning template. By default, it's set to the next number after the last claim in the overall claim set in the Word document (e.g., if there are 12 total claims in the document, it will be set to 13).  However, you can set it to any number equal or greater than 1.
    3. Use this drop-down to select the device name (e.g., "device", "apparatus", or something else) for the device name placeholder in the claim preamble. This value is template-specific and will replace [DEVICENAME] field in the template
    4. Press +/- buttons to adjust the font size in the preview window (item 9) for easier review.
    5. Shows the preview of all of the cloned claims, based on the selected method claims (item 1) and cloning templates selected above (item 4). You can make edits directly into the preview window.  When you insert cloned claims into the document (item 14), the text from the preview window will be used during insertion.  Note that re-selecting method claims (item 1) or templates (item 4) or changing template order or starting claim # for the cloned claims will all reset the preview window, so your edits will be lost.
    6. Specify whether to insert the cloned claims into the currently open Word document or into a new Word document (to be created when "Insert Claims" button is clicked).
    7. Specify whether to insert claims into the document as part of the pre-defined section with a specific header (e.g., "Figures", "Specification", etc.). Normally, this is not needed for claim cloning.
    8. Press this button to insert the cloned claims (as shown the preview window), into either the currently open document or a new Word document, depending on the settings specified in item 11. Claims will be inserted as part of the section (if any) specified in item 12.
    9. When this button is pressed, you'll be presented with a workflow window that will let you quickly move on to the next patent drafting operation, such as shown below: