Ex Parte BATES et al - Page 6




          Appeal No. 2002-2053                                                        
          Application No. 09/329,135                                 Page 6           


          Diagnostics, Inc. v. Helena Laboratories Corp., 859 F.2d 878,               
          882, 8 USPQ2d 1468, 1472 (Fed. Cir. 1988).                                  
               Before turning to the proper construction of the claim, it             
          is important to review some basic principles of claim                       
          construction.  First, and most important, the language of the               
          claim defines the scope of the protected invention.  Yale Lock              
          Mfg. Co. v. Greenleaf, 117 U.S. 554, 559 (1886) ("The scope of              
          letters patent must be limited to the invention covered by the              
          claim, and while the claim may be illustrated it cannot be                  
          enlarged by language used in other parts of the specification.");           
          Autogiro Co. of Am. v. United States, 384 F.2d 391, 396, 155 USPQ           
          697, 701 (Ct. Cl. 1967) ("Courts can neither broaden nor narrow             
          the claims to give the patentee something different than what he            
          has set forth [in the claim].").  See also Continental Paper Bag            
          Co. v. Eastern Paper Bag Co., 210 U.S. 405, 419 (1908); Cimiotti            
          Unhairing Co. v. American Fur Ref. Co., 198 U.S. 399, 410 (1905).           
          Accordingly, "resort must be had in the first instance to the               
          words of the claim" and words "will be given their ordinary and             
          accustomed meaning, unless it appears that the inventor used them           
          differently."  Envirotech Corp. v. Al George, Inc., 730 F.2d 753,           
          759, 221 USPQ 473, 477 (Fed. Cir. 1984).  Second, it is equally             
          "fundamental that claims are to be construed in the light of the            







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