all claims rule
all-claims rule. Patents. The now-abandoned doctrine that a patent is invalid unless every inventor named in the patent made an inventive contribution to every claim in the patent. • Section 116 of the Patent Act now expressly provides that inventors may apply for a patent jointly even though each did not make a contribution to the subject matter of every claim. [Cases: Patents 92. C.J.S. Patents §§ 126, 134.]