Appeal No. 2005-2643
Reexamination Control No. 90/005,842
some measure of past inflation. The level [of] inflation which has occurred
since the previous iteration period can be determined by the formula:
CPIc - CPIo
—————–
CPIo
Where CPIo i[s] the inflation index at the time of the last iteration, or the
initial index if the present iteration is the first.
‘673 Patent at col. 6, ll. 27-46 (emphasis added). “If . . . inflation has occurred during
the prior iteration period, the cash outflow or disbursement attributable to the effects of
inflation on the account balance is determined by applying the inflation rate to the
deposit balance.” Id. at col. 6, ll. 58-62. Because the “market indicator of prior actual
inflation” need not represent the rate of prior actual inflation, any claim recitations of
inflation adjustments “responsive to a rate of inflation” should be understood as
requiring no more than that the inflation adjustments be (a) “responsive to” the rate
of prior actual inflation and (b) “directly responsive to” (i.e., based on) the data of a
market indicator of prior actual inflation, which may represent inflated price levels rather
than inflation rates.
Appellant’s reliance on the district court’s Markman order (Brief at 9) for a
narrower definition of the language of claim 1 and the other claims is improper for the
reasons given above. Also, because it is improper to read disclosed examples into the
claims, American Academy, 367 F.3d at 1369, 70 USPQ2d at 1834, we are
unpersuaded by appellant’s argument that:
[i]n each of the examples in the ‘461 [sic; ‘673] specification, the inflation
component is adjusted for any amount of inflation, and adjusted on a one-
for one basis. ‘461 [sic] specification, col. 10 to col. 26. Accordingly,
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