Appeal No. 2005-1856
Application No. 10/047,365
latter regard, the examiner (as well as the appellants) fully
appreciates that “Vaverka teaches a solar module containing a
front glass plate, a rear support plate, solar cells between the
plates, and a polyether-polyurethane resin layer between the
solar cells and each of the plates” (answer, page 5).
Nevertheless the examiner considers his finding of anticipation
to be proper on the grounds that “the polyurethane layers are
part of the front side and the rear side of [the] Vaverka solar
module” (id.). Our study of the application record leads us to
determine that the examiner’s finding of anticipation is
erroneous.
Contrary to the examiner’s apparent belief, the claim
1 language “a front side composed of transparent polyurethane”
does not encompass an embodiment wherein the front side comprises
transparent polyurethane in combination with a glass plate. This
is because the claim phrase “composed of” should be interpreted
in the same manner as the phrase “consisting essentially of”
thereby excluding elements that would materially affect the basic
and novel characteristics of the claimed invention. See AFG
Indus., Inc. v. Cardinal IG Co., 239 F.3d 1239, 1245, 57 USPQ2d
1776, 1780-81 (Fed. Cir. 2001). Also see In re Bertsch, 132 F.2d
3
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