How do you interpret a colon? This is from the EC - IT Products panel report:
The relevance of the colon to an understanding of the terms in the concession
Arguments of the parties
7.862 Japan and Chinese Taipei consider the relevance of the use of the colon in their assessment of the ordinary meaning of the concession. In particular, Japan argues that a device having the three characteristics appearing after the colon is a set top box with a communication function.1104 Chinese Taipei argues that the colon "breaks the sentence" into two parts, wherein the product is identified before the colon, and "a type of device (STB) that is able to perform a communication function is described" after the colon. In other words, according to Chinese Taipei, the terms after the colon merely provide for an example of a set top box which has a communication function.
7.863 The European Communities argues that the use of a colon divides the text into two parts: "Set top boxes which have a communication function", and "a microprocessor-based device incorporating a modem for gaining access to the Internet, and having a function of interactive information exchange". In its view, the text which follows after the colon is used to identify or explain the text before the colon, which requires not reading the two parts in absolute separation.1105
Consideration by the Panel
7.864 The Oxford Guide to English Usage explains that one function of a colon is to "[l]ink[] two grammatically complete clauses, but mark[] a step forward, from introduction to main theme, from cause to effect, or from premise to conclusion".1106
7.865 It is unquestionable that the colon provides a division between the antecedent text "Set top boxes which have a communication function", and that which follows it. A "link" or relationship between these clauses is implicit since the full text constitutes the concession at issue. Thus, the terms before the colon cannot be understood in isolation from the rest. Rather, all the terms together determine the concession. The text following the colon appears to inform and expand upon the description provided by the antecedent text "Set top boxes which have a communication function". Such a set top box is "microprocessor-based", and further "incorporat[es] a modem for gaining access to the Internet, and [has] a function of interactive information exchange". What remains is to determine the ordinary meaning of "a microprocessor-based device incorporating a modem for gaining access to the Internet, and having a function of interactive information exchange", which informs the meaning of "Set top boxes which have a communication function".
