Appeal No. 2007-0692
Application No. 10/729,973
understand the term “engaging” in the context of the claim and specification
to mean that the plate “comes into contact with” the tongue. See Primos Inc.
v. Hunter's Specialties Inc., 451 F.3d 841, 847-48, 79 USPQ2d 1129, 1134-
35. When in contact with the tongue, the plate is used “to confine the tongue
and prevent it from slipping and obstructing and/or obscuring the throat
passage.” (Specification 5: 3-5.) This contact is necessary to “support” (Id.
at 4:16) and “confine” the tongue during an intubation procedure (Id. at 6: 4-
7).
In addition to confining the tongue, the tongue-engaging plate also
“holds” the tongue. As pointed out in the “Description of Related Art,” prior
art laryngoscopes “are narrow and can hold only approximately half of the
tongue, so that it is very hard to make the tongue stay on the laryngoscope
blade with any degree of stability.” (Id. at 1: 13-15.) To solve this problem,
Appellant provides a tongue-engaging plate which, when attached to the
laryngoscope, holds the tongue on its surface so it does not slip off and
obscure the throat passage (Id. at 5). Preferred shapes are that of a spoon or
a concave upper surface “to cradle the tongue.” (Id. at 4: 16-17.)
Giving “tongue-engaging plate” its broadest reasonable interpretation
as it would be understood by the skilled worker in view of the specification,
we interpret it as a structure which, when attached to a laryngoscope blade
and in contact with the tongue, must be capable of confining and holding the
tongue on its surface.
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