Take the 2-minute tour ×  A US patent issued having a "summary
of invention" NOT covering the claims (e.g. describing different
materials).  Is it valid?  share|improve this question  1 Answer
1  A "summary of the invention" section is not a hard
requirement of a patent application. During prosecution claims
get amended and in a follow-on application the claims might be
directed to some aspect that is covered but not focused on in
the initial application. The specification is usually not
amended in order to avoid a concern over introducing "new
matter" so the claims and the summary end up out of sync. The
more important issue is whether the application as filed, as a
whole, suficently supports the claims.  On the other hand, if a
summary sections says "my invention is a ", some judges will use
that to further narrow their interpretation of the claims to a .
That is one reason some people are leaving off summary sections
altogether.  share|improve this answer  Your Answer