"Step for" or "Step of" to avoid MPF - US patent claims

Question

To avoid having a claim be construed as a Means-Plus-Function claim, is there any special language that is preferred. That is, for example, when using functional language for method claims in a receiving step, are there preferred terms, such as, "a step for receiving", "a step of receiving", "receiving", etc.? What case law, if any, supports this preference?

or

Answers: 2 public & 0 private

Steven weinrieb
Patent Attorney

The answer to your question is very simple - when you are claiming a method, you claim, for example: 1. A method for........, comprising the steps of:
receiving.......

All method steps should preferably be in "ing" form - so it could be "providing", "forming", "receiving", "attaching"......

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