Appeal 2005-2547
Application 10/134,817
specification provides some standard for measuring that degree.”), Appellant
has provided evidence that the metes and bounds of the terminology would
have been reasonably understood by those of ordinary skill in the pertinent
art, i.e., the art of horizontal drilling apparatus.
The evidence proffered by Appellant shows that, while the
terminology may cover pressures of varying nature in varying situations, the
term “high pressure” in the context of pumps used in horizontal drilling rigs
had a customary meaning based not only on pressure levels but on location
and use (see, e.g., Exhibit E (“[f]or example the hydraulic power pack for a
rig will invariably be referred to as a ‘high pressure’ pump, yet a transfer
pump scavenging recovered drilling fluid into a collection tank only a few
feet above it will invariably be referred to as a ‘low pressure’ pump.”; see
also Exhibit D, an information guide describing drilling fluid mixing and
delivery systems as including, in the mixing system, a high-volume, low-
pressure pump and, in the mud delivery system, a high-pressure, low-volume
pump). The evidence supports Appellant’s Specification which indicates
that, customarily, drilling fluid was “generally fed to the drill by a high-
pressure pump.” (Specification 3:10). These pumps operate at pressures
well above atmospheric (see, e.g. Exhibit A and the Schauerte Declaration,
Exhibit C) and are distinguished from the high volume, low pressure pumps
that were conventionally used for drilling fluid mixing (Exhibit D, p. 14).
The Examiner contends that the Appellant’s exhibits reflect
contradictory notions of high pressure (Answer 9-10). We do not agree.
While the exhibits reflect a certain looseness in the way the term is used, a
general guideline emerges. Pumps that operate at pressures around
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