Appeal No. 2005-0146
Application No. 10/274,635
The ordinary or plain meaning of “cover” is “to put, lay, or
spread something over, on or before (as for protecting, enclosing,
or masking).”1 Accordingly, we construe the broadest reasonable
scope and meaning of “covered on both sides” to include a gypsum
core with synthetic polymeric fibrous sheets laying over or
enclosing both sides of the gypsum core, with no limitations that
the fibrous sheets touch the gypsum core or whether there is any
slurry on the sheet face.
In view of our claim construction as discussed above, we agree
with the examiner that Miller describes every limitation of the
claims on appeal within the meaning of section 102(b). We agree
with appellants that Miller teaches that the surfaces of the web
should be coated with gypsum slurry, as well as filling all of the
openings in the mesh web with slurry (col. 2, ll. 48-52; col. 6,
ll. 30-31; and col. 7, ll. 41-45). However, the claims as
construed above do not exclude the gypsum slurry coating the web
faces (see the Answer, page 5). Appellants argue that the pore
sizes of the present invention are small enough to prevent the
gypsum slurry from penetrating completely through the liner
material (Brief, page 3). This argument is not well taken since
1See Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, Gove,
ed., p. 524, G.& C. Merriam Co., 1971.
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