Appeal No. 2002-0104
Application No. 09/254,605
conductor consists only of a low-resistive material, and the two
wires comprising high-resistive conductors consist only of high-
resistive materials. As explained by the examiner and supra,
however, the "comprising" language of appealed claim 11 does not
allow for such a limited interpretation of the claim.
Appellant's argument regarding the Dahl reference is
likewise not commensurate in scope with the breadth of claim 11.
Appellant contends that although Dahl discloses jacketed
conductors, "a person of ordinary skill in the art is taught by
Dahl et al., at column 5, lines 46-49, that each of the
conducting elements in the group of conductors can be fabricated
with a jacket" (page 11 of Brief, last paragraph). Based on the
Dahl disclosure, appellant maintains that "[w]ithout having had
the benefit of first reading the present disclosure, a person of
ordinary skill in the art would have no basis to 'single out' one
and only one conductor in the stranded arrangement of Comte and
construct that single conductor as a jacketed conductor" (id.).
The flaw in appellant's argument is that it presupposes that
appealed claim 11 requires that only the low-resistive conductor
comprises a low-resistive material encased in an exterior jacket
comprising a high-resistive material. However, as pointed out by
the examiner, there is no requirement in claim 11 which precludes
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