I’m a product of the ‘80s, having grown up in the Midwest during those times. One of my favorite shows to watch on TV (when you had to actually plan to be present at the scheduled broadcast time of the show) was called “Crazy Like a Fox.” It only ran for 2 seasons from ‘84-’86 and if you look it up on IMBD, they describe it as follows:

Rough-and-tumble private Investigator Harry Fox, Sr. solves crimes with the reluctant help of his son, respected San Francisco lawyer Harrison Fox, Jr.

In my mind, I remember Harry saying his tag line (that he was crazy like a fox) when some hair-brained scheme worked out to solve the crime in the end. Since it has been so many years since I have actually watched the show, that might just be my imagination. But the topic today reminds me of some wisdom Harry would give Harrison, if they were both patent attorneys.

We all know that multiple dependent claims are disfavored in the US. The USPTO puts a heavy price penalty on them, and outright bans multiple dependent claims depending from multiple dependent claims. But the crazy thing is, including (in the detailed description) multiple dependent claim paragraphs, and even multiple dependent claim paragraphs that depend from multiple dependent claim paragraphs, can be very valuable for your US application (since these are not actual “claims” but rather claim language, they are referred to here as “claim paragraphs”).

Why? Because if your application forms the priority filing for an EP application, you just provided your European colleagues a whole lot more options during prosecution while still keeping the priority claim valid. As our European colleague can attest, the EPO can be brutally strict on sufficient disclosure for making an amendment combining two features unless you already had a claim on the specific combination. Intermediate generalization and various other idiosyncrasies of EP practice can twist you up in knots. But if you have the features in multiple dependent format in the specification, many of these issues fall away.

At my firm we use a software tool (www.ironcrowip.com) that automatically takes your US claim set and generates paragraphs putting everything in multiple dependent form - so all you have to do is hit a button.

Whatever system you use, if there is a chance your priority application is heading to the EPO, it is good practice to consider the crazy idea of using multiple dependent claim paragraphs in (the detailed description ) of your US application.