The U.S. statutes provide very limited guidance for claim interpretation in 35 U.S.C.§271 & §112(f). The Supreme Court and Federal Circuit have undertaken most of the responsibility to develop the rules. In contrast to China and many other civil law countries, which have a statute to state that a claim defines the scope of a patent, 35 U.S.C. does not provide general guidance for claim interpretation. 35 U.S.C.§271 addresses patent infringement, but does not directly address claim interpretation.