Appeal No. 2000-0836
Application No. 08/727,693
at issue hinges on the interpretation of the phrase “or aqueous
admixture thereof” as that phrase is used in the claims on appeal.
Having carefully considered the record in light of the
opposing positions taken by the appellants and the examiner, we
agree with the examiner that the phrase in question must be broadly
construed. Accordingly, we shall affirm each of the rejections
before us.
In particular, we find that the expression “or aqueous
admixture thereof”, in the context in which it is used in the
instant claims, alternatively reads upon either an admixture of
water with the previously referred to dispersion, or an admixture
of water directly with the previously referred to polymers without
first obtaining a dispersion.
This interpretation is consistent with the plain meaning of
the individual terms in the expression at issue, and is also
consistent with the way in which the expression is defined in
appellants’ specification.
More particularly, appellants overlook the fact that the word
“thereof” could just as likely be construed as referring directly
to the preceding “polymers” as it could be construed as referring
to a “dispersion”. Even more to the point, appellants’ own
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