Ex parte HOPSON - Page 4




                 Appeal No. 96-3418                                                                                                                     
                 Application No. 08/317,135                                                                                                             

                          adds filters to the coupler and the nipple.  The                                                                              
                          filters can be in both the coupler and the nipple,                                                                            
                          the coupler only or the nipple only.                                                                                          
                 The appellant’s invention is further described as including “a                                                                         
                 coupler 15 and a nipple 66,” which are referred to in the                                                                              
                 specification as “coupler halfs” (specification, page 3).  As                                                                          
                 a result of our review of the Wilcox patent, and the                                                                                   
                 appellant’s  drawings and the accompanying explanation in the                                                                          
                 specification, it is clear to us that the “coupling” that is                                                                           
                 the subject of the appellant’s invention comprises two                                                                                 
                 components, a “coupler” and a “nipple,” which are removably                                                                            
                 attachable together.  This conforms to the common definition                                                                           
                 of the term “coupling,” which is “a device that serves to                                                                              
                 connect the ends of adjacent parts or objects.”                                     2                                                  
                          In view of the above, the term “coupling” in the                                                                              
                 appellant’s claims should be interpreted as meaning a two-                                                                             
                 component structure comprising a releasably attachable coupler                                                                         
                 and nipple.  This being the case, the claims do not read on                                                                            
                 the Neracher device, for several reasons.  First, inventor                                                                             
                 Neracher has called his device a “filter,” not a coupling.                                                                             


                          2See, for example, Merriam Webster’s Collegiate                                                                               
                 Dictionary, Tenth Edition, 1997, page 266.                                                                                             
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