Appeal No. 2003-0229
Application No. 09/768,885
Appealed claim 16 recites the step of “stitching an
electrically conductive strand in the heater layer in a heat-
dissipating pattern.” Because the present specification does
not contain any special definition for the term “stitching,” we
give the term its broadest reasonable meaning as it would be
interpreted by one skilled in the relevant art. In this regard,
Webster’s Third New International Dictionary 2246, copy
attached, defines the root term “stitch” to include “a method of
fastening leaves (as of pamphlets) with thread or cord drawn by
hand or machine through previously pierced holes or with wire
staples...” and “to fasten together (signatures) by passing
thread or wire through all the signatures at once -
distinguished from sew.” From these definitions, we determine
that one of ordinary skill in the art would have understood the
term “stitching” to include lacing.
The appellants do not dispute the examiner’s finding (final
Office action, page 2) that Pfenninger discloses the first,
third, and fourth recited steps of appealed claim 16.
Specifically, Pfenninger describes a method for making heating
elements (e.g., an aircraft deicer) comprising:
providing a base member 12 and two outer sheaths comprising
a layer of woven glass 19 and an outer covering layer of fiber
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