Appeal 2006-2578
Application 09/811,970
teaches forming the interlock with a heated skive device which softens the
wall material in order to "make it flow as a continuous piece in forming the
interlock" (Specification 7, 1st full para.).
The term "roll" possesses a number of definitions. For example, "roll"
is defined as "[s]omething rolled up in the form of a cylinder … [as in] a roll
of masking tape" (Webster's II New Riverside University Dictionary, 1984,
pages 1016-17). This definition applies to the roll 34 depicted in Appellants'
Figure 4. As another example, "roll" is defined as "[a] gentle swell or
undulation of a surface … [as in] the roll of the prairie" (id.). This definition
applies to the interlock embodiment described in the first full paragraph on
Specification 7.
The last mentioned definition also is applicable to shoulder 17 in the
wells of Bowers' filtration device. As shown in Figure 11 of the Bowers
patent, shoulder 17 constitutes a gentle swell or undulation of the surface of
annular member 96. Therefore, the surface of this annular member may be
accurately described as containing a "roll" in the form of shoulder 17.
Because the interlock embodiment described on Specification 7 falls
within the aforementioned definition of the term "roll," it is reasonable and
consistent with the Specification to broadly interpret the claim term "roll" as
encompassing a gentle swell or undulation of a surface of the type depicted
as shoulder 17 in Figure 11 of Bowers. Hyatt, 211 F.3d at 1372, 54
USPQ2d at 1667.
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