Appeal No. 95-0785
Application 07/748,708
carrier material and metal fibers which have begun to melt during
the thermoforming (specification, page 11). Contrary to the
examiner’s assertions on page 3 of the answer, the article of
claim 16 is specifically required to be “thermoformed”. See In
re Wilder, 429 F.2d 447, 166 USPQ 545 (CCPA 1970)(Every
limitation positively recited in a claim must be given effect in
order to determine what subject matter that claim defines).
Therefore the article of appealed claim 16 must have softened
carrier material and melted metal fibers. See In re Sneed, 710
F.2d 1544, 1548, 218 USPQ 385, 388 (Fed. Cir. 1983)(In
proceedings before the PTO, claims in an application are to be
given their broadest reasonable interpretation consistent with
the specification, and that claim language should be read in
light of the specification as it would be interpreted by one of
ordinary skill in the art). Nakanishi fails to disclose any
melting of metal fibers during the thermoforming process. The
thermoformed article of Nakanishi therefore does not meet every
positive limitation of appealed claim 16. Accordingly the
rejection of claim 16 under § 102(b) in view of Nakanishi is
reversed.
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