A quick definition of near:

Near means close to something, not far away. It can also mean almost or closely related to something or someone, like a near miss or a near friend. In patent law, a claim is a statement that describes the unique features of an invention and defines the scope of the patent's protection. There are different types of claims, such as closed-ended claims that limit the scope to a specific list of elements, and open-ended claims that contain a nonexclusive list of elements.