What is a characteristic of a Reissue Application related to claims?

In the context of a Reissue Application, the characteristic that states claims cannot be broader than the original is important for maintaining the integrity of the patent system. The primary purpose of a reissue is to correct errors in an issued patent, and one of the overarching principles is to prevent the patentee from extending their scope of protection beyond what was originally granted.

This restriction is in place to ensure that the rights conferred by the reissue application do not exceed the rights that were provided in the original patent. By maintaining the limitation that reissued claims cannot be broader, the patent system seeks to uphold the balance between incentivizing innovation and protecting the public from overly broad claims that may unfairly restrict competition or the ability to use ideas that were already in the public domain.

While it is true that claims can also be modified for clarity, this does not alter their fundamental scope. The possibility of making claims narrower than the original is also a feature of reissue applications, but this is not a defining characteristic, unlike the essential limitation that they cannot be broader.