撰写或译入英文专利文档常见的特殊词语

    专利文档中经常用到一些专用词语，或者叫“行话”，因此这些词语除了本身的词义之外，更具有一些特定的所指，撰写或译入英文专利文档时要小心使用。现摘录如下：

 

a (used to introduce a part)

about (used to fudge a specific quantity)

at least (used to hammer home that more elements can be used)

contiguous (used to indicate elements are touching)

device for (interpreted like "means for")

disposed (used to indicate a part is positioned in a particular place)

further including (used in dependent claims to add additional parts)

heretofore (used to refer back to something previously recited)

indicium (used to recite something that a human can recognize, such as a mark or a sound)

means for (used to claim something broadly, in terms of its function, rather than specific hardware)

member (used to recite a mechanical part when no other word is available)

multitude (used to recite a large, indefinite number)

pivotably (used to indicate that a part is rotatably mounted)

plurality (used to introduce more than one of an element)

predetermined (used to state that a part has a specific parameter)

providing (used to recite a part in a method claim)

respectively (used to relate several parts to several other parts in an individual manner)

said (used to refer to a previously recited part by exactly the same word)

sandwiching (used to indicate that one part is between two other parts)

selected from the group consisting of (used in a Markush claim to create an artificial group)

slidably (used to indicate that two parts slide with respect to each other)

so that (used to restrict a part to a defined function)

substantially (used to fudge a specific recitation)

such that (used to restrict a part to a defined function)

surrounding (used to indicate that a part is surrounded)

the (used to refer to a previously recited part by a slightly different word)

thereby (used to specify a result or connection between an element and what it does)

thereof (used as a pronoun to avoid repeating a part name)

urging (used to indicate that force is exacted upon a part)

whereby (used to introduce a function or result at the end of a claim)

wherein (used in a dependent claim to recite an element (part) more specifically)