RECAPTURE RULE

recapture rule.Patents. The doctrine that a patentee cannot regain, in a reissue patent, a claim

that the patentee previously abandoned in order to gain allowance of the patent application. • The

rule provides a defense in an infringement action by allowing the defendant to attack the validity

of a reissue patent. An attempt to recapture a strategically abandoned claim cannot meet the

statutory requirement that the error be made without deceptive intent. 35 USCA § 251. [Cases:

Patents 141(6). C.J.S. Patents § 249.] [Blacks Law 8^th]