Appeal No. 1997-0186
Application No. 08/314,568
give the term "alkoxy silane" the definition set forth in the
specification and recited in claim 5. We are inclined to do
the latter.
Adding to the confusion, we are mindful of appellants'
reference to "dimethoxydiphenylsilane" in the sentence
immediately following the description of "alkoxy silane"
(Specification, p. 5, lines 16-18):
Representative compounds include tetraethyl
silicate, tetramethyl silicate, tetrabutyl silicate,
and dimethoxydiphenylsilane. [Emphasis added.]
However, considering this sentence in light of the definition
of "alkoxy silane" immediately preceding it, it appears that
appellants would equate phenyl with alkyl. Manifestly, the
term "alkyl" cannot be broadened in this manner to include
"phenyl" where a clear distortion of an art recognized term
would result. It is well settled that while an applicant is
entitled to be his own lexicographer, an applicant may not
distort a term to mean something it does not mean. In re
Hill, 161 F.2d 367, 369, 73 USPQ 482, 484 (CCPA 1947).
Therefore, any reliance on this sentence to expand the meaning
of "alkoxy silane" as expressly defined in the specification
(p. 5, lines 14-16) is improper.
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