Markman hearing
American legal proceeding related to patent law
A Markman hearing is a judicial proceeding held in the United States District Court for claims dealing with patent infringement. During a Markman hearing a judge is responsible for interpreting the meaning of words and phrases in a patent, ultimately providing what is known as "claim construction." This is also known as claim interpretation. A Markman hearing usually defines the scope of the patent either for or against the inventor. However, effects of the Markman hearing, include (1) what evidence to consider, (2) de novo review on appeal, (3) depletion of judicial resources, and (4) the timing of a Markman hearing.
Inception
In the 1996 case of Markman v. Westview Instruments, Inc., the Supreme Court of the United States held that claim interpretation was a matter of law rather than a question of fact for the jury. Ordinarily, the 7th Amendment provides, in certain circumstances, an individual's right to a jury trial. However, courts have determined that in some instances judges are better equipped to address certain issues, like patent claim interpretation, as opposed to juries. Specifically, the court in Markman determined that patents are like contracts, and contracts have been reviewed by the court in history's past. Therefore, it is best suited for courts to interpret patent language.
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The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 25, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6771105. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1996.
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This entry incorporates text from “Markman hearing” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.