Appeal No. 97-4208
Application 08/682,393
In re Morris, 127 F.3d 1048, 1054, 44 USPQ2d 1023, 1027 (Fed.
Cir. 1977).
Appellant, citing a definition of “nib” from the
American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, contends 3
that Main’s gear teeth are not “nibs” because they are not sharp.
The examiner on the other hand notes that Webster’s Seventh New
Collegiate Dictionary defines “nib” as “a small pointed or pro-
jecting part” (emphasis added), and asserts that gear teeth 36 of
Main '025 are projecting parts, and therefore are nibs, as
claimed.
We agree with the examiner. Looking to appellant’s
disclosure for any enlightenment on this question, In re Morris,
supra, we note, as did the examiner, that the nibs 42, 44 shown
in appellant’s drawings (Figs. 12 and 13) have blunt, rather than
pointed, ends. Accordingly therefore, the term “nib” as used in
the claims cannot be accorded the definition cited by appellant,
but must be used in the broader sense of “a small projecting
part,” which definition also reads on a gear tooth such as those
disclosed on the pawl 30 of Main '025.
3“any small, sharp projecting part”
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