Appeal No.2000-1098 5
Application No. 08/661,415
28. The Appellant thereafter states that, “it is an object of the present invention to provide
a device for infusing an infuser, such as a tea bag, in a liquid which allows the tea bag to be
retained within the cup after a desired strength of the beverage has been reached. It is a
further object of the invention to provide a device for encapsulating the tea bag within the
bottom of a cup.” See specification, page 2, lines 12-18. We find the invention provides
for, “a shield 14 for substantially encapsulating the beverage pack 12 within a bottom 16
of a vessel.” See specification, page 3, lines 30-31. Moreover, the specification states
that, “when the shield 14 is in the closed position, the sealing materials 32, 34 seal the
interfaces to effectively isolate the beverage pack 12 from the water in the cup above the
shield 14. This prevents continued infusion of the material in the beverage pack 12 into
the liquid above the shield.” See specification, page 4, lines 15-20. Based upon the above
findings, we interpret the aforesaid language of the claim as requiring substantial
encapsulation of the beverage pack in the bottom of the vessel so as to encapsulate and
isolate the beverage pack and prevent the further infusion of the tea or other beverage
material in order to maintain the beverage at the desired strength. Furthermore, the
encapsulation is temporary. Moreover, the encapsulation is not obtained by steeping the
beverage and impacting the bottom of a vessel as a part of a steeping process. We conclude
that the unequivocal requirement of the claimed subject matter is to encapsulate the
beverage pack at the bottom of the vessel, maintain the desired strength of the beverage by
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