Appeal No. 2006-2797 Page 4
Application No. 09/341,821
to expel the product from the vessel. The gas-filled compartment is separated by a
“barrier” from the product-filled compartment. When the vessel is opened, the pressure
in the product-filled compartment is reduced, causing the gas-filled compartment to
push against the product-filled compartment and expel the product from it. Id., page 3.
The barrier aerosol is “self-sealing.” This phrase was added by an amendment
filed September 3, 2003. The specification does not provide a definition of what it
means to be “self-sealing” nor a description of the structure necessary to meet this
limitation. However, claims “‘must be read in view of the specification, of which they are
a part.’ …. [T]he specification ‘is always highly relevant to the claim construction
analysis. Usually, it is dispositive; it is the single best guide to the meaning of a
disputed term.’” Phillips v. AWH Corp., 415 F.3d 1303, 1315, 75 USPQ2d 1321, 1327
(Fed. Cir. 2005) (internal citations omitted).
According to the specification, “because there is positive pressure in the
container, the vessel can be made to be self-sealing.” Specification, page 2, lines 18-
20. “This aids maintenance of product [wound gel] sterility.” Id., page 2, lines 20-21. It
is also stated that, when the product container is sealed with the “opening valve” after
filling and steam sterilization, “pressure medium can then be introduced [into the second
compartment] without compromising the sterility of the product.” Id., page 4, lines 6-11;
page 4, line 34-page 5, line 5. Experiments that mimicked clinical use (i.e., discharge of
gel from the opening valve) were performed to show that that “micro-organisms do not
proliferate in the gel contained in the barrier vessel.” Id., page 8, line 28-page 9, line 17.
In view of the specification’s reference to the opening valve with respect to maintaining
wound gel sterility, we interpret the claimed requirement that the vessel is “self-sealing”
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