Appeal No. 2004-0088 Page 6
Application No. 09/821,663
To help us understand the scope and meaning of the phrase "to prevent the pill
from moving without restraint within the enclosure," we have reviewed the appellant's
disclosure, especially the paragraph bridging pages 10-11 which reads as follows:
FIG. 1 shows a dispenser 2 comprising a bottom section 4 and a top
section 6. The bottom section 4 is in the form of a heart shape to facilitate
identification of the purpose of the dispenser 2 for heart related health events. A
wall 8 on the bottom section 4 forms a storage area 10 within the bottom section
4. Within the storage area 10 are shown three pill storage retainers 12, 14 and
16. The typical pill storage retainer (e.g., 14) has a wall 18 and a central open
area 20 that is large enough to support or completely contain a pill (e.g., 22
shown in pill storage retainer 12). The central open area 20 should have a
sufficient diameter or open area to be able to allow a pill to comfortably and
loosely fit within the open area 20. Here, the shape of the pill 22 is shown to be
circular, but the pill may be square, ellipsoid, tubular, octagonal, cubic, or other
geometric shape, and the open area 20 to receive such a shaped pill should
correspond or provide a supportive shape for that particular pill. By having the
shape of the open area 20 correspond to the shape of the pill, the sides of the
open area 20 will support the pill, capsule, caplet or the like, reduce the amount
of shifting that will occur within the container, and reduce damage, breakage, or
powdering of the product. The relative fit between the medicine and the support
should be tight enough to restrict movement, without providing such a gripping
contact that the pill would be physically degraded or removal would be made
difficult. To avoid this, the medicine should be able to fall from the open area 20
by the action of tipping or inverting the open container, and/or the sides of the
open area 20 should be lower than the top of the medicine (e.g., less than 80%
of the medicine height, less than 50% of the medicine height, and the like). A
square open area 20 with each interior side being greater than the diameter of a
circular cross-sectioned pill will satisfy the support requirement, without having to
have the shape of the pill and the open area 20 be geometrically comparable.
From this disclosure, we understand the phrase "to prevent the pill from moving
without restraint within the enclosure" to mean that the pill is prevented from moving
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007