Appeal No. 2003-2113 Page 4
Application No. 09/712,582
fluid in another through hole as a result of said removed portions of said partition
walls;
one of a non-porous, straight wire and non-porous, straight wire mesh
movably positioned within said through hole such that a narrow space is formed
between an inner wall of said partition wall forming said through hole and a side
portion of said straight wire and wire mesh so as to cause sufficient capillary
action.
6. A plate type heat pipe as claimed in claim 3, wherein said wire comprises
a twisted wire.
9. A plate type heat pipe as claimed in claim 3, wherein a cap portion is
joined near each of said end portions of said through hole.
The claims define the property rights provided by a patent, and thus require
careful scrutiny. The goal of claim analysis is to identify the boundaries of the
protection sought by the applicant and to understand how the claims relate to and
define what the applicant has indicated is the invention. USPTO personnel must first
determine the scope of a claim by thoroughly analyzing the language of the claim
before determining if the claim complies with each statutory requirement for
patentability. See In re Hiniker Co., 150 F.3d 1362, 1369, 47 USPQ2d 1523, 1529
(Fed. Cir. 1998). Thus, before reviewing the rejections under appeal we must first
determine the scope of the claims under appeal.
We understand claim 3 as being drawn to a plate type heat pipe, comprising,
inter alia, (1) an extruded pipe having two ends and having a plurality of through holes
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