Appeal No. 2004-0027 Page 6
Application No. 09/513,089
used in the claim and specification as an adjective. The ordinary and accustomed meaning of the
adjective form of “adjuvant” is: “serving to aid or contribute: AUXILIARY.”1 The meaning
adopted by the Examiner comports with the ordinary meaning of the term and is consistent with
the usage of the term in the specification. Appellants provide no convincing basis to interpret
the phrase in a contrary manner.
Our reviewing court has counseled the PTO to avoid the temptation to limit broad claim
terms solely on the basis of specification passages and tells us that, absent claim language
carrying a narrow meaning, the PTO should only limit the claim based on an express disclaimer
of the broader definition. In re Bigio, 381 F.3d 1320, 1325, 72 USPQ2d 1209, 1210-11 (Fed.
Cir. 2004). We conclude that the Examiner has correctly interpreted the phrase “adjuvant
substances and additives” and has correctly refrained from reading extraneous limitations from
the specification into the claims.
Claim 5 allows for the inclusion of a superabsorbent material in the polyester-
polyurethane foam as an “adjuvant substance or additive.” Therefore, the foam of Wilson meets
the foam requirements of the claim. We need not consider the question of whether it would have
been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to omit the superabsorbent material from the foam
of Wilson as argued by Appellants.
1See Merriam-Webster OnLine, entry adjuvant[1, adjective] at www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary. A copy
accompanies our decision.
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