Appeal No. 2003-0785
Application 09/457,816
inherency, each and every element of a claimed invention as well
as disclosing structure which is capable of performing the
recited functional limitations. RCA Corp. v. Applied Digital
Data Systems, Inc., 730 F.2d 1440, 1444, 221 USPQ 385, 388 (Fed.
Cir.); cert. dismissed, 468 U.S. 1228 (1984); W.L. Gore and
Associates, Inc. v. Garlock, Inc., 721 F.2d 1540, 1554, 220 USPQ
303, 313 (Fed. Cir. 1983), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 851 (1984).
The examiner has indicated how he reads the invention of
claim 1 on the disclosure of Boutaghou [answer, page 3].
Appellants argue that claim 1 must be interpreted in accordance
with the sixth paragraph of 35 U.S.C. § 112. They argue that
when claim 1 is properly interpreted in light of the
corresponding disclosure, the conducting means of Boutaghou fails
to meet the disclosed flexible circuit having a dielectric liquid
crystal substrate [brief, pages 7-9]. The examiner responds that
the electrical traces in Boutaghou are structural equivalents to
the electrical traces disclosed by appellants. The examiner also
notes that the claimed conducting means does not include the
dielectric liquid crystal substrate because the substrate does
not provide electrical connections [answer, pages 5-7].
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