Appeal 2007-1939
Application 10/277,563
The claims
Claim 12, the only independent claim on appeal, defines the invention
as follows:1
12. An electrical power-generating assembly for a solid oxide
fuel cell comprising:
a) a packet element having an enclosed interior formed at
least in part by one or more compliant solid oxide sheet
sections;
b) a frame element edge-supporting the solid oxide sheet
sections;
c) one or a plurality of anodes disposed within the enclosed
interior and supported on an interior surface of a
compliant solid oxide sheet section;
d) one or a plurality of cathodes supported on an exterior
surface of the compliant solid oxide sheet section at
locations generally opposite the anodes on the interior
surface;
e) a fuel delivery conduit through the frame element for
supplying a fuel gas to the enclosed interior; and
f) electrically conductive means connected to the anodes and
cathodes for drawing electrical current from the
assembly.
Corning does not separately argue the limitations of the dependent claims so
we focus our analysis on claim 12.
We start by construing claim 12. Corning describes the claimed
invention in terms of embodiments in the specification, but offers no express
construction of a contested term.2 The final rejection does not offer express
claim constructions either, but the examiner's answer does.
1 All claim language is taken from Corning's Appeal Brief (Br.).
2 Compare Br. 2-4 (Summary of the Claimed Subject Matter) (describing
claim 12 in terms of disclosed embodiments) with Br. 4-5 (Argument)
(noting differences between the claimed embodiment and the prior art). For
2
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