Question 1
Domain 2: Patent Application Filing and Claim DraftingWhich of the following is true about dependent claims?
Correct answer: B
Explanation
A dependent claim must refer back to another claim and include every limitation of that claim, then add its own extra limitation. That is why it “incorporates all limitations of the claim it depends from and adds further limitations.”
Why each option is right or wrong
A. A dependent claim must broaden the scope of the claim it depends from
B. A dependent claim incorporates all limitations of the claim it depends from and adds further limitations
Under 35 U.S.C. § 112(d), a dependent claim must contain a reference to a prior claim and then further limit the subject matter claimed. The USPTO’s claim-construction rules treat it as incorporating every limitation of the referenced claim by operation of dependency, with the added restriction that it cannot broaden the scope beyond that parent claim.
C. A dependent claim can exist without an independent claim
D. A dependent claim can remove limitations from the claim it depends from