Appeal No. 2002-1487 Page 8
Application No. 09/404,461
ordinary usage as they would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art, taking
into account whatever enlightenment by way of definitions or otherwise that may be
afforded by the written description contained in the appellants' specification. In re
Morris, 127 F.3d 1048, 1054, 44 USPQ2d 1023, 1027 (Fed. Cir. 1997). See also In re
Sneed, 710 F.2d 1544, 1548, 218 USPQ 385, 388 (Fed. Cir. 1983).
In this instance, the appellants' specification does not provide any definitions of
the claimed terms "tube" and "cut."1 However, the specification does provide (page 18,
lines 15-19) that
[w]hile the spiral cut in the inner tube has been described as being formed
using laser cutting techniques, it will be appreciated that other methods can be
used to form the spiral cut including, but not limited to, conventional machining
with hard cutters, water jet cutting techniques, and manufacturing processes
wherein the inner member is formed simultaneously with a spiral cut, e.g. by
casting.
The specification (pp. 8-9) describes the spiral cut 40 as extending continuously without
interruption and being formed through the tubular portion 36 to define a flexible region
permitting the inner member 14 to bend. In addition, the specification (p. 11) states
that the spiral cut can be formed using any suitable technique and that the width of the
cut is preferably about 0.005 inch with a longitudinal spacing of about 0.062 inch
1 The appellants have provided dictionary definitions for these terms in the brief.
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