BRI

Law & Legal abbreviation · Intellectual Property

BRI stands for Broadest reasonable interpretation, an intellectual property abbreviation.

Standard the USPTO uses to read patent claims during examination: claims receive their broadest reasonable meaning consistent with the specification, as a person of ordinary skill would understand it. The applicant's ability to amend claims justifies the broad reading.

Example: Under BRI, the examiner read "fastener" to include adhesives as well as screws.

Usage notes

Courts instead apply the Phillips v. AWH (Fed. Cir. 2005) standard, giving terms their ordinary meaning in light of the specification and prosecution history. In November 2018 the PTAB switched from BRI to the Phillips standard for IPR and PGR trials, aligning them with district courts.

Related abbreviations

More intellectual property abbreviations

• CBM – Covered business method review
• CC – Creative Commons
• CC BY – Creative Commons Attribution License
• CC0 – Creative Commons Zero
• CCB – Copyright Claims Board
• CIP – Continuation-in-part
• CNIPA – China National Intellectual Property Administration
• Copr. – Copyright
• DOE – Doctrine of equivalents
• EPC – European Patent Convention
• EPO – European Patent Office
• EUIPO – European Union Intellectual Property Office

See all 50 intellectual property abbreviations →

Edited by the AbbreviationList.com team. Spotted an error or a missing meaning? Contact us.

This entry is for general education and is not legal advice. Abbreviation use varies between institutions; always confirm in context.