Appeal No. 2006-0650 Page 4
Application No. 10/007,613
construction is consistent with the ordinary and customary usage of the words and the
specification embodiments.
The article must also be “exposed” to the proteolytic enzyme. We construe this
to mean, in accordance with the application, that the article is in contact with the
enzyme so degradation of the prior protein can be accomplished. Specification, pages
13-14.
The other term to construe in the claim is “system.” This term is not disclosed in
the specification or original claims, but made its first appearance in the amendment filed
9/23/2003. Without specific guidance from the specification, we turn to the dictionary
definition to elucidate its ordinary and customary meaning. According to Webster’s New
Collegiate Dictionary (1976), a system is “a regularly interacting or interdependent
group of items forming a unified whole.” Applying this definition to the claims, the
recited elements (a) through (d) are construed to be the “items” which form the “whole,”
i.e., the system. Although no purpose is recited for the system, the specification
indicates it is for “disinfecting and sterilizing medical devices and like articles.”
Specification, page 2. The elements, i.e., the heating means, exposing means, and
proteolytic enzyme, thus interact in the system to perform the disinfection/sterilization
purpose.
No specific structures are described in the application, either for the system as a
whole or for the several “means for” that are recited in the claim. For instance, the claim
states that the articles are characterized by being heated to a certain temperature range
and exposed to an enzyme, but it does not require that the heating and contacting be
done at the same time or in the same “means for.”
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007