Appeal No. 96-4139
Application 08/142,276
shaft 11 "appears to be smooth in Figure 5", and on page 7 that
"Chevalier shows that the protrusion (24), of which lip (47) is a
part, has a smooth transition to the shaft (11)".
In construing the terms in a claim:
[T]he PTO applies to the verbiage of the proposed
claims the broadest reasonable meaning of the words in
their ordinary usage as they would be understood by one
of ordinary skill in the art, taking into account
whatever enlightenment by way of definitions or other-
wise that may be afforded by the written description
contained in the applicant's specification.
In re Morris, 127 F.3d 1048, 1054, 44 USPQ2d 1023, 1027 (Fed.
Cir. 1997). With respect to the term "smooth" as used in claim
1, the broadest reasonable meaning of the term in ordinary usage
is defined in the dictionary as "having a continuously even
surface: being without roughness, points, bumps or ridges, esp.
to the touch". This is consistent with the "enlightenment"3
provided in appellants' specification, which states at page 2,
second paragraph that "A substantially smooth transition face
between the protrusion and the needle of this invention is
obtained since the transition between the various parts of the
protrusion is circular".
Webster's Third New International Dictionary (1971). "Even" is defined3
as being "without break, indentation, roughness, or other irregularity", with
"smooth" being listed as a synonym.
6
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007