ALL-CLAIMS RULE
all-claims rule.Patents. The now-abandoned doctrine that a patent is invalid unless every
inventor named in the patent made an inventive contribution to every claim in the patent. • Section
116 of the Patent Act now expressly provides that inventors may apply for a patent jointly even
though each did not make a contribution to the subject matter of every claim. [Cases: Patents 92.
C.J.S. Patents §§ 126, 134.] [Blacks Law 8th]