Appeal No. 97-4260
Application 08/445,660
It is well settled that patent applicants may be their
own lexicographers, in that a term used in the claims shall be
given a special meaning if that meaning is sufficiently clear
in the specification. Multiform Desiccants Inc. v. Medzam
Ltd. 133 F.3d 1473, 1477, 45 USPQ2d 1429, 1432 (Fed. Cir.
1998). In the present case, the paragraph of the
specification from which appellants extracted the above-
quoted definition reads, in part (page 9, lines 3 to 16,
emphasis added):
Bosses 13 are arranged on upper surface 9 of deck 7
in an essentially non-linear pattern. The pattern
substantially avoids formation of hinge or bending
moments by avoiding linear arrangements of bosses.
The pattern is non-symmetrical about either of the
two major axes -X or -Y. In a preferred embodiment,
the bosses are generally evenly distributed over the
surface of the deck yet are not symmetrical about
either of the X or Y axes. The arrangement of
bosses may also be non-symmetrical about axes
along the diagonals of the deck. A non-hinge
forming arrangement may also be formed by locating
bosses so that a line formed through the center
of two adjacent bosses does not intersect the center
of any boss adjacent to either of the line defining
bosses.
Also on page 10, lines 3 to 10 (emphasis added):
4
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