Appeal No. 2001-0130
Application No. 09/050,491
the nickel layer (i.e., the source metal layer) “can be from
between about 0.01 microns to layer thicknesses exceeding about
10-15 microns.” (Page 14, lines 2-5.) When we give the term
“preferably” its ordinary meaning as it would be understood by
one skilled in the relevant art,3 we determine that the narrower
range that follows this term is merely a desirable or preferred
range, not a required range. This interpretation accords with
the well settled principle that unpatented claims must be
interpreted by giving words their broadest reasonable meanings
in their ordinary usage, taking into account the written
description found in the specification. In re Morris, 127 F.3d
1048, 1054, 44 USPQ2d 1023, 1027 (Fed. Cir. 1997); In re Zletz,
893 F.2d 319, 321-22, 13 USPQ2d 1320, 1322 (Fed. Cir. 1989).
The examiner’s reliance on the Wu case as controlling legal
authority is misplaced. In that case, we held (the Board) that
the recitation “optionally containing a polyamine” did not
render a method claim indefinite. Wu, 10 USPQ2d at 2032, 2033.
In Wu, the question of whether the recitation of a relatively
broad range of numerical values followed by a preferred narrower
3 Webster’s New World College Dictionary 1133 (1999), copy
attached, defines the term “preferable” as “more desirable; to
be preferred.”
7
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007