Fletcher YoderUnder the doctrine of claim differentiation, an independent claim is broader than a claim that depends from it; thus, if a dependent claim reads on a particular embodiment, the corresponding independent claim must cover that embodiment as well.
The domestic industry requirement of 19 U.S.C. § 1337 necessary to give make 19 U.S.C. § 1337 applicable may be satisfied by substantial licensing activities alone. Also, claim differentiation creates a strong presumption that a claim term in an independent claim is different from a similar claim term in a dependent claim unless the specification has defined the terms as equivalent or differentiation has been clearly disavowed.