📰 Prosecution History Estoppel also known as file-wrapper estoppel, is a term used to indicate that a person who has filed a patent application, and then makes narrowing amendments or arguments to the application to accommodate the patent law, may be precluded from invoking the doctrine of equivalents in patent infringement lawsuits, by trying to broaden the scope of their claims to cover subject matter ceded by the amendments.

Prosecution history estoppel can occur in two ways: by making a narrowing amendment to the patent claim (amendment-based estoppel), or by surrendering claim scope through argument to the patent examiner (argument-based estoppel).

Therefore when facing objections from the Patent Examiner, discuss with your patent agent about all the amendments and arguments which will be submitted.

ℹ️ Source: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/doctrine-of-equivalents-prosecution-52987/