美國專利審查基準M.P.E.P.2173.05(i)規範了負面表示(Negative Limitations)的用法
原文：
The current view of the courts is that there is nothing inherently ambiguous or uncertain about a
negative limitation. So long as the boundaries of the patent protection sought are set forth definitely, albeit negatively, the claim complies with the requirements of 35 U.S.C. 112, second
paragraph. Some older cases were critical of negative limitations because they tended to define the invention in terms of what it was not, rather than pointing out the invention. Thus, the court
observed that the limitation "R is an alkenyl radical other than 2-butenyl and 2,4-pentadienyl" was a negative limitation that rendered the claim indefinite because it was an attempt to claim the invention by excluding what the inventors did not invent rather than distinctly and particularly pointing out what they did invent. In re Schechter, 205 F.2d 185, 98 USPQ 144 (CCPA 1953).
在目前法院的觀點，負面表示(negative limitation)本身沒有模糊或是不明確的問題，在特定情況下，若需定義非為何比指出何為發明還清楚，就可使用負面表示
但多半時候，用排除(excluding)的方式界定發明，會有不明確的問題
A claim which recited the limitation "said homopolymer being free from the proteins, soaps, resins, and sugars present in natural Hevea rubber" in order to exclude the characteristics of the prior art product, was considered definite because each recited limitation was definite. In re Wakefield, 422 F.2d 897, 899, 904, 164 USPQ 636, 638, 641 (CCPA 1970). In addition, the court found that the negative limitation "incapable of forming a dye with said oxidized developing agent" was definite because the boundaries of the patent protection sought were clear. In re Barr, 444 F.2d 588, 170 USPQ 330 (CCPA 1971).
此處舉例，使用沒有(free from)蛋白質、鹼、樹脂、天然膠的糖的方式來描述一種聚合物，藉以排除一些先前技術的特色，則為明確的寫法
Any negative limitation or exclusionary proviso must have basis in the original disclosure. If alternative elements are positively recited in the specification, they may be explicitly excluded in the claims. See In re Johnson, 558 F.2d 1008, 1019, 194 USPQ 187, 196 (CCPA 1977) ("[the] specification, having described the whole, necessarily described the part remaining."). See also Ex parte Grasselli, 231 USPQ 393 (Bd. App. 1983), aff'd mem., 738 F.2d 453 (Fed. Cir. 1984). The mere absence of a positive recitation is not basis for an exclusion. Any claim containing a negative limitation which does not have basis in the original disclosure should be rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112, first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. Note that a lack of literal basis in the specification for a negative limitation may not be sufficient to establish a prima facie case for lack of descriptive support. Ex parte Parks, 30 USPQ2d 1234, 1236 (Bd. Pat. App. & Inter. 1993). See MPEP § 2163 - § 2163.07(b) for a discussion of the written description requirement of 35 U.S.C. 112, first paragraph.
使用負面表示或是排除的寫法需要基於原始說明書的揭露，來判斷是否明確排除特定元件
如果負面表示並未被原始說明書所支持(並非僅在文字上的支持)，則應被核駁
舉幾個例子：
美國專利第7,085,412號
1. A computer program product comprising one or more computer-readable media having computer- executable instructions for implementing, in a processing device associated with a display device that has a plurality of pixels each having a plurality of pixel sub-components, a method of processing image data in preparation for displaying an image on the display device such that the pixel sub-components represent different portions of the image and the image is rendered with a desired degree of luminance accuracy and a corresponding desired degree of color accuracy, wherein the method comprises the steps for: passing a signal in which the image data is encoded through a low-pass filter, the signal having a plurality of channels each representing a different color component of the image; and based on the filtered signal, generating a data structure in which data representing spatially different regions of the image data are mapped to individual pixel sub-components of a particular pixel rather than being mapped to the entire pixel.
美國專利第7,082,298號
1. In a computerized system that includes one or more mobile devices and an electronic message
server supporting wireless communication, wherein at least some of the mobile devices have an input system that is optimized for numeric input rather than text input, and wherein at least some of e mobile devices are capable of sending and receiving electronic messages, a method of composing an electronic message using a mobile device, the method comprising acts of: receiving a command to begin composing an electronic message at a mobile device; receiving a command to add audio content to the electronic message at the mobile device, wherein a total amount of audio content added is limited to a predetermined maximum set for a single electronic message, wherein the limitation of the predetermined maximum set is dictated by an available storage and a communication bandwidth of said device; diverting to a temporary storage within the mobile device, an audio content stream received at an audio input wherein the total amount of audio content diverted to the temporary storage is limited to the predetermined maximum; displaying a progress indicator to show a current amount of temporary storage used in storing the data audio content stream compared to the predetermined maximum; storing the audio content stream within the mobile device in a format that is compatible with adding audio content to the electronic message; and attaching the formatted audio content to the electronic message at the mobile device.
美國專利第7,432,881號
4. An image display apparatus for displaying gray-scale images by representing each gray-scale level of the images by an ON/OFF pattern of a set of sub-fields constituting one field, the image display apparatus comprising: an input image conversion unit configured to convert an input image signal into image information; a sub-field information generating unit configured to generate display information for each sub-field, based on the image information output from the input image conversion unit; and an address driver configured to write the display information for each sub-field generated by the sub-field information generating unit, into an image display area wherein the input image conversion unit converts the input image signal by setting an area composed of a plurality of adjacent pixels in response to the input image signal, then setting a standard pixel in the area, then changing gray-scale levels of pixels excluding at least the standard pixel in the area so that the number of sub-fields that are different between the standard pixel and pixels adjacent to the standard pixel is restricted, and so that if a luminance difference between main gray-scale levels in the area is no less than a first predetermined value, the luminance difference is changed to be no less than a second predetermined value.
美國專利第7,429,301號
2. The ultra clean spring steel as of claim 1, wherein the wire is formed from a steel comprising; C: no more than 1.2 mass % (excluding 0%); Si: 0.4 to 4 mass %; Mn: 0.12.0 mass; and Al: no more than 0.01 mass % (excluding 0%).
另外補充台灣審查基準的標準：
請求項中使用負面表現方式，例如「除…之外」、「非…」或類似用語，通常會導致申請專利範圍不明確。惟若此類用語在特定技術領域中具有明確的涵義，或該發明所屬技術領域中具有通常知識者以發明說明為基礎能瞭解其範圍，而不會導致申請專利範圍不明確者，則得以此類用語表現。
此外，若以正面記載技術特徵之方式無法明確、簡潔界定申請專利範圍時，例如為迴避先前技術之核駁，則得以負面表現方式將屬於先前技術的部分明確排除於申請專利範圍之外。
Ron
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