Appeal No. 2004-1333
Application 09/969,190
language used in claims 1, 20 and 21 on appeal is not so limited,
and is clearly readable on the shaping of the inner and outer
claddings that takes place in Wynne during vacuum formation of
the final housing/container (90) therein.
As for appellants’ assertion that the barrier film material
of Wynne cannot be considered to define thermoplastic claddings
as claimed in the instant application, we note that independent
claims 1, 20 and 21 on appeal are each drafted using the open-
ended transitional term “comprising” and thus do not exclude
additional, unrecited elements. Wynne describes the barrier film
material therein (at page 4) as being preferably formed of “a
plurality of polyester or MYLAR layers including an inner layer
of heat-sealable polyethylene and an outer metalized or aluminum
layer which is formed by laminating a metal foil to the film
layer or by metal deposition on the layer.” However, in
describing the housing/container embodiment of Figure 5, Wynne
specifically describes the bag (115) formed of the above-noted
barrier film material as being a “plastic film envelope or bag”
(page 6, line 8). Moreover, we note that appellants’ own
specification (page 5) indicates that the inner and outer
claddings of the refrigeration housing or appliance therein can
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