Appeal 2007-1788
Application 09/766,032
as much as possible, during the administrative process.” In re Zletz, 893
F.2d 319, 322, 13 USPQ2d 1320, 1322 (Fed. Cir. 1989).
Claim 18 uses the terms “about” and “approximately.” We first look
to the Specification to determine whether Appellant has acted as his own
lexicographer in defining “about” and “approximately.” See Merck & Co.,
v. TEVA Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc., 395 F.3d 1364, 1369-70, 73 USPQ2d
1641, 1646 (Fed. Cir. 2005). Our review of the Specification, however, does
not reveal that “about” and “approximately” have been defined in way
different from their ordinary meaning.1 We thus interpret those terms
consistent with their ordinary meaning. See id. “About” may be defined by
its ordinary and accepted meaning of “approximately.” See id., 395 F.3d at
1372, 73 USPQ2d at 1648. Turning to “approximately,” that term may be
defined as “nearly exact, not perfectly accurate or correct.”2 Thus, as Riead
teaches that the float buoyancy of the bobber (i.e. the spring constant of the
bobber in water) is only slightly greater than switch sensitivity, which is
1 The dissent would limit “approximately equal” to the embodiment shown in
Figures 11-13. While the Specification at page 9 states that Figures 11-13
show an alternate preferred embodiment of the invention wherein the force
required to completely depress the spring 12 approximately equal to the
buoyancy force of bobber main body 15, there is nothing that limits the
language “approximately equal” to only that preferred embodiment. There
are many embodiments that fall between the embodiment shown in Figures
2-4 and Figures 11-13, and the bobber that is described by Riead
demonstrates one of those embodiments. In our view, the dissent is reading
limitations from the specification into the claims, a practice that the Court of
Appeals for the Federal Circuit, our reviewing court, cautions against. See
SuperGuideCorp. v. DirecTV Enterprises, Inc., 358 F.3d 870, 875, 69
USPQ2d 1865, 1868-69 (Fed. Cir. 2004).
2 Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/approximately (accessed: June 28,
2007).
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