Appeal No. 2003-1205
Application No. 09/568,406
recesses 29a and 29b in the holder 21 (corresponding to the
claimed complementary interengaging retaining means). See column
3, lines 10-23, together with Figures 2B and 3.
The appellants only argue that the tongues and recesses
disclosed in Komatsu are not part of a unitary structure of the
body 11 (outer housing).1 See the Brief and the Reply Brief in
1 The appellants have not argued that the claimed
complementary interengaging retaining means should be treated as
a means-plus-function element within the meaning of 35 U.S.C.
112, paragraph 6. Thus, we are not required to raise and/or
consider such issue. In re Baxter Travenol Labs., 952 F.2d 388,
391, 21 USPQ2d 1281, 1285 (Fed. Cir. 1991)(“It is not the
function of this court to examine the claims in greater detail
than argued by an appellant . . . ”); 37 CFR
§ 1.192(a)(2000)(“Any arguments or authorities not included in
the brief will be refused consideration by the Board of Patent
Appeals and Interferences, unless good cause is shown”).
However, even if we were to treat it as a means-plus-function
element, our decision would not be altered. As is apparent from
page 8 of the specification and Figures 17 and 18 of the
application, the claimed complementary interengaging retaining
means corresponds to the recesses and protrusions located at the
outer and inner housings, respectively. These recesses and
protrusions perform substantially the same function (retaining
function) in the same or similar manner to retain the inner
housing within the outer housing as those recesses and
protrusions in Komatsu’s body and holder. As such, we find that
Komatsu either describes a structure corresponding to or
equivalent to the claimed complementary interengaging retaining
means. See Odetics Inc. v. Storage Tech. Corp., 185 F.3d 1259,
1267, 51 USPQ2d 1225, 1229-30 (Fed. Cir. 1999) (a prior art
element is considered equivalent to the claimed element if the
prior art element performs the function specified in the claim in
substantially the same way to produce substantially the same
results as the element corresponding to the claimed means
described in the specification). One of ordinary skill in the
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