Appeal No. 1998-2610 Page 5 Application No. 08/451,950 15 F.3d 1573, 1577, 27 USPQ2d 1836, 1840 (Fed. Cir. 1993)). Here, claim 18 specifies in pertinent part the following limitations: "[a] hearing protection earplug comprised of materials with embedded metallic particles ...." The ordinary and accustomed meaning of a "particle" is “[a] very small portion of something material ...." Webster's Third New International Dictionary 1646 (1971) (copy attached). In view of this meaning, the limitations require pieces of metal that are very small in relation to the earplug in which the pieces are embedded. The examiner fails to show a disclosure of the limitations in the Yoshii. The reference teaches "a displacement type ear microphone ...." Col. 1, ll. 9-10. Although the ear microphone includes "a coil spring of metallic or plastic material," col. 3, l. 16, or "a fibrous sleeve 12 formed of mesh of metallic or glass fibers," col. 6, ll. 51-53, neither the spring nor the sleeve is very small vis-�-vis the microphone. To the contrary, the coil spring is large enough in diameter to be "fastened to a projection 1a ofPage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 NextLast modified: November 3, 2007