Appeal No. 2005-0209
Application 09/274,014
977 F.2d 1443, 1445, 24 USPQ2d 1443, 1444 (Fed. Cir. 1992); In re Piasecki, 745 F.2d 1468,
1472, 223 USPQ 785, 788 (Fed. Cir. 1984).
As an initial matter, we find that when the claim terms are given their broadest
reasonable interpretation in light of the written description in the specification as interpreted by
one of ordinary skill in the art, and without reading into the claims any limitation or particular
embodiment disclosed in the specification, see, e.g., In re Morris, 127 F.3d 1048, 1054-55,
44 USPQ2d 1023, 1027 (Fed. Cir. 1997); In re Zletz, 893 F.2d 319, 321-22, 13 USPQ2d 1320,
1322 (Fed. Cir. 1989), the plain language of claim 1 specifies dense mineral oxide solid supports
comprising at least any mineral oxide matrix having an external surface and pores which have a
volume of any amount less than 30% of the total volume of the mineral oxide matrix, and an
interactive polymer matrix of at least any polymer(s) which will interact with any
macromolecule(s), fill at least some of the pores of the mineral oxide matrix and coat the
external surface of the dense mineral oxide matrix at least to the extent that at least some
subsequent interaction with the macromolecule(s) occurs in and on the interactive polymer
network coated on the external surface of the dense mineral oxide solid support.
Claim 2 modifies the dense mineral oxide support of claim 1 by specifying a density in
the range of about 1.7 to 11. Claim 7 modifies the dense mineral oxide support of claim 1 by
specifying that the pore volume is 5% to 25% of the total volume of the mineral oxide matrix.
Claim 11 modifies the dense mineral oxide support of claim 1 through claim 10 by specifying
that the interactive polymer network comprises at least a polysaccharide or a mixture of
polysaccharides, but does not require that the polysaccharide(s) must interact with the
macromolecules.
The transitional terms “comprising” in claim 1 and “comprises” in claim 11 require that
the encompassed dense mineral oxide solid supports include at least the specified mineral oxide
matrix and the interactive polymer network and opens the claims to include dense mineral oxide
solid supports that further contain any additional material(s) and/or structure(s). Thus, for
example, claim 11 can include dense mineral oxide solid supports in which the interactive
polymer network can contain any additional polymer(s) in the pores and/or coated on the
external surface of the support which interact with other macromolecules and/or groups of the
mineral oxide matrix. See generally, Exxon Chem. Pats., Inc. v. Lubrizol Corp., 64 F.3d 1553,
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