Appeal No. 2005-0289 Page 6
Application No. 09/491,841
be indefinite. Claim 1 recites, inter alia, "a base structure. .
. sealing lips operatively associated with said base structure .
. . said sealing lips for providing a seal between said base
structure and a coaxial cable . . . a band shaped, electrically
conducting contact element attached to said base structure . . .
said . . . contact element including at least one . . .
protrusion . . . biased to extend beyond said sealing lips . . ."
We find from the language of the claim, that the claim does not
recite the elastic part 22, but rather the sealing lips 30, 32,
34 and 36 of the elastic part 22. Thus, as set forth, the base
as claimed is broad enough to include the portions of the elastic
part 22 that are not part of the sealing lips. As a result, the
claim language regarding the contact element being "attached to"
the base structure is correct because the base structure, as
claimed, includes the portions of the elastic part 22 that are
not part of the sealing lips. The language of the specification
of comprising, and the language of the claim of "attached to" are
not mutually exclusive due to the breadth of the claim. This is
so because of the claim language of the protrusion of the contact
element extending beyond the sealing lips associated with the
base structure, which includes the portions of the elastic
element 22 other than the sealing lips. Accordingly, we find the
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