Ex Parte Rodriguez et al - Page 8



          Appeal No. 2004-0716                                             Page 8            
          Application No. 09544,275                                                          

          759, 221 USPQ 473, 477 (Fed. Cir. 1984).  Second, it is equally                    
          "fundamental that claims are to be construed in the light of the                   
          specification and both are to be read with a view to ascertaining                  
          the invention."  United States v. Adams, 383 U.S. 39, 49, 148                      
          USPQ 479, 482 (1966).                                                              
                Furthermore, the general claim construction principle that                   
          limitations found only in the specification of a patent or patent                  
          application should not be imported or read into a claim must be                    
          followed.  See In re Priest, 582 F.2d 33, 37, 199 USPQ 11, 15                      
          (CCPA 1978).  One must be careful not to confuse impermissible                     
          imputing of limitations from the specification into a claim with                   
          the proper reference to the specification to determine the                         
          meaning of a particular word or phrase recited in a claim.  See                    
          E.I. Du Pont de Nemours & Co. v. Phillips Petroleum Co., 849 F.2d                  
          1430, 1433, 7 USPQ2d 1129, 1131 (Fed. Cir.), cert. denied, 488                     
          U.S. 986 (1988).                                                                   
                What we are dealing with in this case is the construction of                 
          the limitations recited in the appealed claims.  As stated by the                  
          court in In re Hiniker Co., 150 F.3d 1362, 1369, 47 USPQ2d 1523,                   
          1529 (Fed. Cir. 1998) "[t]he name of the game is the claim."                       
          Claims will be given their broadest reasonable interpretation                      
          consistent with the specification, and limitations appearing in                    





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