Appeal No. 2006-0483
Application 09/860,272
polymers can thus include homopolymers and random, block and graft copolymers, and the
particles can include core/shell in which the core and the shell constitute different domains (see
specification, e.g., page 10, ll. 24-25).
The open-ended term “comprising” used in transition and in the body of the claim opens
the claim to include coating compositions which include any manner of additional ingredients in
the coating compositions, including other types of particles, and other types of materials in the
claimed particles. See generally, Exxon Chem. Pats., Inc. v. Lubrizol Corp., 64 F.3d 1553, 1555,
35 USPQ2d 1801, 1802 (Fed. Cir. 1995) (“The claimed composition is defined as comprising -
meaning containing at least - five specific ingredients.”); In re Baxter, 656 F.2d 679, 686-87,
210 USPQ 795, 802-03 (CCPA 1981) (“As long as one of the monomers in the reaction is
propylene, any other monomer may be present, because the term ‘comprises’ permits the
inclusion of other steps, elements, or materials.”). Indeed, appellants disclose in the written
description in the specification that other materials, including polymers, can be included in the
particles, and other dispersions as well as film-forming materials, “one or more fillers for
improving the vibration and sound dampening capabilities of the coating,” and other ingredients
can be included in the coating compositions (e.g., page 17, ll. 17-23, page 18, l. 25, to page 19,
l. 7, page 22, l. 11, to page 25, l. 2).
The claim requires that the structure and content of the particles must be such that “when
said coating composition is applied to a substrate, said particles form a geometrically ordered
array.” There is no limitation stated in the claim with respect to the manner or structure of the
geometrically ordered array, the characteristics of the remainder of the coating composition in
this respect, or the condition of the coating when this property is manifested. The claim further
requires that “said coating composition, when dried, is capable of dissipating frequencies of
sound in the range of about 400 to about 20,000 Hz” to some extent, however small. There is no
limitation in the claim which requires that this characteristics must exclusively result from the
claimed particles, as indeed, vibration and sound dampening fillers can be included in the
composition as claimed.
Accordingly, based on our interpretation of claim 1, we agree with the apparent position
of the examiner that when the language of the claim is considered as a whole as well as in view
of the written description in the specification as it would be interpreted by one of ordinary skill
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