You should read this case if: grammar gets you going
Does “X/Y” mean “X
and Y,” “X
or Y,” or both? The Federal Circuit took on the meaning of a slash in our case of the week.
The case concerns drug patent claims referring to “a surfactant/solubilizer.” Whether the defendant infringed the patent turns in part on the meaning of the slash. According to the accused infringer, the slash means “and”: To be “a surfactant/solubilizer,” a substance must be both a surfactant
and a solubilizer. According to the patentee, the slash captures both “and” and “or”: To be “a surfactant/solubilizer,” a substance can be a surfactant