Appeal No. 97-4260 Application 08/445,660 It is well settled that patent applicants may be their own lexicographers, in that a term used in the claims shall be given a special meaning if that meaning is sufficiently clear in the specification. Multiform Desiccants Inc. v. Medzam Ltd. 133 F.3d 1473, 1477, 45 USPQ2d 1429, 1432 (Fed. Cir. 1998). In the present case, the paragraph of the specification from which appellants extracted the above- quoted definition reads, in part (page 9, lines 3 to 16, emphasis added): Bosses 13 are arranged on upper surface 9 of deck 7 in an essentially non-linear pattern. The pattern substantially avoids formation of hinge or bending moments by avoiding linear arrangements of bosses. The pattern is non-symmetrical about either of the two major axes -X or -Y. In a preferred embodiment, the bosses are generally evenly distributed over the surface of the deck yet are not symmetrical about either of the X or Y axes. The arrangement of bosses may also be non-symmetrical about axes along the diagonals of the deck. A non-hinge forming arrangement may also be formed by locating bosses so that a line formed through the center of two adjacent bosses does not intersect the center of any boss adjacent to either of the line defining bosses. Also on page 10, lines 3 to 10 (emphasis added): 4Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 NextLast modified: November 3, 2007