Appeal No. 2004-1006
Application 10/142,485
Appellant replies that the “two-piece cylindrical body” of Ferhat “does not correspond
with the claimed language requiring ‘a cylindrical body having a center bore and opposite open
first and second ends’” because “the two-piece cylindrical body disclosed by Ferhat consists of a
choke member 19 with a center bore that is threadably attached to a coupling member 11, which
also has a center bore,” wherein “tubular member 11 does not perform a choking function but
rather provides a means for attaching the choke member 19 to the end of the barrel 10” (reply
brief, pages 2-3). Appellant further argues that “[t]he claims . . . do not require tapering and
narrowing from a diameter ‘close enough’ to the internal threads, but rather require a diameter
‘adjacent to’ the internal threads,” and contends that “[a]s read in light of the specification, and
as shown in Fig. 3 of the Application . . . the tapering of bore 36 begins at the end of internal
threads 26 . . . and narrows continuously to end 32,” while in Ferhat, “there is a separation
between the internal threads and the point where the narrowing begins” (id., pages 3-5).
The claim limitations at issue here are the first and third clauses of appealed claim 8.
Considering the claim term “a cylindrical body” in the first clause of claim 8, “a cylindrical body
having a center bore and opposite open first and second ends,” we find no definition for this term
in the written description in the specification. In giving the claim term the broadest reasonable
interpretation, we find that, indeed, a “body” can be an entity comprising more than one part, as
determined from the common dictionary definition of this term,3 and thus we cannot agree with
appellant that the term is in this instance limited to an entity of unitary construction. Therefore,
we agree with the examiner that, as a matter of fact, in Ferhat Fig. 2, the combination of tubular
connector 11 and choke 19 comprises “a cylindrical body,” with “a center bore” comprising the
center bore of each of these parts, with each part thus providing an “opposite open . . . end,” as
specified for the claimed choke tube by the first clause of claim 8, and, as recognized by
appellant, tubular connector 11 provides internal threads located in the bore adjacent the first end
for threadably engaging the outside diameter of firearm barrel, as specified for the claimed choke
tube by the second clause of this claim.
3 See generally, The American Heritage Dictionary, Second College Edition 193 (Boston,
Houghton Mifflin Company, 1982); Webster’s II New Riverside University Dictionary 186-87
(Boston, The Riverside Publishing Company. 1984).
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