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[abe]

I have written an application for a provisional patent, and at the begining I wrote: "I have invented a device that does...(a concise sentence descriptive of the invention's function).
In case I later apply for a foreign patent, can this be considered to be a claim, or should I state one as such?
avi

[Jonathan]

Sounds like you are referring to foreign patent statute of a type that requires a foreign patent application, that is used as a basis for a priority claim, to have at least one claim.

For example, if you file a U.S. provisional patent application with no claim then you may perhaps be barred from claiming priority to the filing date of the U.S. provisional patent application in a foreign patent application of a country that has that kind rule.

As far as I know, though,  there aren't any foreign jurisdictions of consequence that have this rule in place. The only country that I have heard that does this is Thailand.

But to more directly answer your question - that beginning paragraph probably would not be considered to be a claim. What you could do, if you are still concerned about it, is to copy that first paragraph to a separate page after the description of the invention and put a "1." before "I have invented.." and also put a header on the page that says "CLAIMS".

[abe]

makes sense, thanks.
abe