In a series of decisions issued between March and August, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit clarified several important principles governing patent claim construction. These rulings — Maquet Cardiovascular LLC v. Abiomed Inc., Eye Therapies LLC v. Slayback Pharma LLC, FMC Corp. v. Sharda USA LLC and Acufloor LLC v. EvenTile Inc. — offer valuable insights into the role of prosecution history, transitional phrases and specification evolution in defining patent scope. [...]