Appeal No. 95-2138
Application 07/852,078
record. The supplemental brief defines the term Amodulated@ as
Ato adjust to or keep in proper measure or proportion, to vary a
characteristic in a periodic or intermittent manner, or to pass
gradually from one state to another.@ We note that the
definition provided by The American Heritage Dictionary (2d ed,
Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1982) at page 807 for the
electronic usage of modulate is A[t]o vary the frequency,
amplitude, phase, or other characteristic of (a carrier wave).@
Although an inventor is indeed free to define the specific
terms used to describe his or her invention, this must be done
with reasonable clarity, deliberateness, and precision. In re
Paulsen, 30 F.3d 1475, 1479, 31 USPQ 2d 1671, 1674 (Fed. Cir.
1994). Moreover, when interpreting a claim, words of the claim
are generally given their ordinary and accustomed meaning, unless
it appears from the specification or the file history that they
were used differently by the inventor. Carroll Touch, Inc. v.
Electro Mechanical Sys., Inc., 15 F.3d 1573, 1577, 27 USPQ2d
1836, 1840 (Fed. Cir. 1993).
We note that the definition of the term, Amodulated@ as
argued by Appellants is consistent with Appellants= usage in the
specification. In particular, Appellants state on page 7 of the
specification that Figure 4 is a representation of a modulated
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