Law360, New York ( January 10, 2014, 7:28 PM EST) -- Many times in recent years, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has attempted to establish bright-line rules for a host of issues in patent controversies. Most notably, the Federal Circuit has struggled with how to handle the interpretation of patent claim language in litigation. In 3M Innovative Properties Co. v. Tredegar Corp. (Fed. Cir., Aug. 6, 2013), Judge S. Jay Plager argued in a concurring opinion that the contract law doctrine of contra proferentem should apply to the interpretation of litigated patent claims. In championing this approach, Judge Plager is, in the least, denying a fundamental aspect of intellectual property rights, namely, the property aspect....