Appeal No. 2003-1181
Application No. 09/755,575
elongated sleeve having a bore" as set forth in claim 1 on appeal
or a "sleeve means" of the type required in claim 15 on appeal.
The examiner urges (answer, page 3) that a dictionary definition
defining the term sleeve as "an open-ended flat or tubular
packaging or cover" justifies the above-noted broad
interpretation.
We have reviewed the applied Granryd patent and, like
appellant, are of the view that the examiner's attempt to read
the "elongated sleeve having a bore" as set forth in claim 1 on
appeal and the "sleeve means" as required in claim 15 on appeal
on the solid body traction bar (11) of Granryd is entirely
untenable. Simply stated, one of ordinary skill in the art would
not reasonably view the transversely cut radial section of a
truck or bus tire defining the traction bar (11) of Granryd as
being a "sleeve having a bore" or a "sleeve means" as those terms
would be understood from reviewing appellant's specification.
Before the USPTO, when evaluating claim language during
examination of an application, the examiner is required to give
the terminology of the claims its broadest reasonable
interpretation consistent with the specification, and to remember
that the claim language cannot be read in a vacuum, but instead
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