Appeal No. 2005-2178
Application 09/969,882
In order to review the examiner’s application of prior art to the claimed invention
encompassed by appealed claims 14 and 17 under § 103(a), we must initially interpret the claims
by giving the terms thereof the broadest reasonable interpretation in their ordinary usage as they
would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art in light of the written description in the
specification, including the drawings, as interpreted by this person, unless another meaning is
intended by appellant as established in the written description of the specification, 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
Donaldson Co., 16 F.3d 1189, 1192-95, 29 USPQ2d 1845, 1848-50 (fed. Cir. 1994) (in banc);
In re Zletz, 893 F.2d 319, 321-22, 13 USPQ2d 1320, 1322 (Fed. Cir. 1989).
We determine that the plain language of independent claim 14 and claim 17, dependent
thereon, encompasses a method comprising at least the steps specified in the claims including,
among others, substantially filling the reservoir container above the perforated partition with any
manner of growing medium, such as a growing medium containing any amount of any manner of
soil or other potting material, any manner and amount of drainage and aeration aids, any manner
and amount of compost and other organic matter and any manner and amount of an accurately or
inaccurately quantified plant nutrient source(s) of fertilizer; providing on at least some part
(claim 14) or all of the upper surface (claims 14 and 17) of the growing medium any manner and
amount of source(s) of fertilizer which alone is/are at least sufficient for any manner of growth
of at least two batches of any manner of the same or different plant(s), from seeds and/or
seedlings, to at least the point of harvesting whole plants, any part(s) of plants, or any manner of
material produced by plants; and wherein the same or different plants result from at least two
separate plantings of seeds and/or seedlings in consecutive growing seasons or periods in any
environment, either controlled and/or exposed to weather, in which the reservoir container is
used by any person or entity, regardless of the level of gardening, horticultural and agronomic
skill of the user and whether the user is following a preconceived planting/harvesting plan or
schedule.
Indeed, all that claims 14 and 17 require is that “a source of fertilizer” is applied in any
amount that is at least “sufficient” for any manner of growth of at least two separate and
consecutive plantings of seeds and/or seedlings to achieve some “harvesting,” however small,
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