Appeal No. 1998-2148
Application 08/764,783
cylinder clearly meets the language of the claims, and is even
of the same material (copper) disclosed by Appellants
(specification, page 5, line 1). With regard to Postma’s
cylinder being “attached to said lamp base” (brief-page 13),
we note that cylinder 11 is connected (i.e., attached) to lamp
cap 10 through conductor 12 (column 3, lines 22-24).
Appellants argue that their claimed wire diameter,
0.5 mm to 3.0 mm, is twice as thick as Postma’s 0.25 mm at
their low end, and six times thicker at their high end. 1
Appellants contend Postma’s wire diameter is not “very close”
as alleged by the Examiner (brief-page 13).
The Examiner responds that “very close” means
Appellants’ and Postma’s wire are of the same order of
magnitude, both measured in millimeters (answer-page 7). In
support of the Examiner’s view, we note that Appellants’ own
range represents a factor of 6 between the low and high end of
their range. Thus, Postma’s factor of 2 at the low end sheds
a realistic light on “very close” when considering Appellants’
1 By our calculation Appellants’ wire is actually 12 times
thicker at their high end.
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