Changes

The act establishes that a claim construction ruling must occur prior to discovery. A claim construction ruling is a critical step in ruling on the validity of a patent and whether infringement has occurred. Claim construction defines exactly what a patent includes and the extent to which a patent holder can protect the subject matter. <ref name="claimconstruction" /> Courts do not have to stay discovery if both parties consent, the patent holder is awarded a preliminary injunction, or the case is transferred, dismissed, severed, or a party drops out of the case. <ref name="govtracksummary" /> A preliminary injunction forces a party to stop the actions supposedly infringing the patent prior to the court's finally ruling. Severing a lawsuit means separating the lawsuit into several parts or deciding a case on an individual basis if there are multiple defendants. <ref name="sever" />