Appeal No. 2003-1081
Application 08/581,347
out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the appellant
regards as the invention.
The appellant’s claims all require “substantially” uniform
heat transfer across the substrate.
When a word of degree such as “substantially” is used in a
claim, the specification must provide some standard for measuring
that degree such that one of ordinary skill in the art would
understand what is claimed when the claim is read in light of the
specification. See Seattle Box Co. v. Industrial Crating &
Packing, Inc., 731 F.2d 818, 826, 221 USPQ 568, 573-74 (Fed. Cir.
1984).
The appellant’s specification indicates that the heat
transfer across the substrate is substantially uniform when the
appellant’s heat transferring seal (220) is used and the thermal
conductivity of this seal “closely” matches that of the heat
transfer gas in the region enclosed by the seal (page 9, lines 1-
8).
The specification, however, does not provide a standard for
measuring the degree encompassed by “closely”. The only seal
material and heat transfer gas disclosed in the specification
are, respectively, Kapton® and helium (page 7, lines 23-26;
page 10, lines 1-10). The DuPont website indicates that the
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