Appeal No. 2004-0441
Application 09/777,535
affix to; connect or join”.2 The appellants’ specification,
which discloses, as affixing techniques, screen printing, pad
printing, rolling and molding (page 7, lines 8-16), does not
indicate that the appellants are using the term “affix” more
broadly than its dictionary definition.
The examiner argues that Foley’s elastomeric seal is affixed
to the annular cover by the spring exerting a force on the
annular cover which, in turn, exerts a force on the elastomeric
seal, thereby preventing the elastomeric seal from moving from
the annular cover (answer, pages 4-5). This argument is not well
taken because the pressing action of Foley’s spring does not
fasten, connect or join the annular cover (67) and the
elastomeric flange (77) and, therefore, does not affix the
elastomeric flange to the annular cover. Hence, even if Binford
and Foley are combined as proposed by the examiner, the
appellants’ claimed invention is not produced. See Uniroyal,
Inc. v. Rudkin-Wiley Corp., 837 F.2d 1044, 1052, 5 USPQ2d 1434,
1439 (Fed. Cir.), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 825 (1988).
2 Webster’s New Riverside University Dictionary 136
(Riverside 1984). A copy of this dictionary definition is
provided to the appellants with this decision.
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