Answer ... There are no hard-and-fast rules in this regard, but generally there is no preliminary decision on interpretation similar to a Markman hearing in the United States.

Answer ... Generally, courts use regular judicial interpretation rules as a legal standard when defining claim terms, such as the contra proferentem rule (interpretation against the drafting party), which may be used against the applicant, or the ‘blue pencil’ rule. Thus, patents are interpreted like any other legal document. Specifically with respect to patents, it has been held that the claims and the description must be read as a whole for the purpose of interpretation, and terms are defined according to their meaning in the specification, as understood by a person of skill in the field of the invention.

Answer ... The court will usually rely on expert witness, although it is not bound to accept the opinion of an expert. If there is uncertainty in defining the claim terms according to the patent document, the court may consider external documents, including correspondence between the inventor or its representatives and patent offices. There is lack of uniformity in case law with respect to the applicability in Israel of the file wrapper estoppel.