Appeal 2007-2550
Application 10/321,182
current collectors), and electrical contacts 50 and 52 (i.e., external terminals)
(Kucherovsky, col. 4, ll. 13-40). Kucherovsky further discloses that the
electrical contact 50 (i.e., external terminal) “can be” connected to the
cathode current collector 26 (i.e., internal current collector), and electrical
contact 52 (i.e., external terminal) “may be” connected to the anode current
collector 28 (i.e., internal current collector) (Kucherovsky, col. 4, ll. 24-25,
39-40). Kucherovsky discloses that the films 22 and 24, which comprise the
outer layers of the battery, can be sealed together with adhesive, or by heat
sealing or laminating (Kucherovsky, col. 4, ll. 3-6). Kucherovsky further
discloses in Figures 1 and 2 that the electrical contact 52 (i.e., external
terminal) and anode current collector 28 (i.e., internal current collector) are
adjacent the edges of film 22 and 24 (Kucherovsky, Figures 1 and 2).
From the above disclosures, it is evident that Kucherovsky discloses,
for example, that the area where the anode current collector 28 (i.e., internal
current collector) connects to the electrical contact 52 (i.e., external
terminal) is partially contained within the seal junction formed by the edges
of films 22 and 24 (i.e., the left-hand side of the films 22 and 24 as shown in
Kucherovsky’s Figure 2).
Appellants’ claim 38 does not exclude an end of the external terminal
and an end of the internal current collector being partially contained within
the seal junction. In other words, the phrase “within said seal junction” in
claim 38 may broadly and reasonably be construed as including an end of an
external terminal and an end of an internal current collector being partially
contained within the seal junction. In re American Academy of Science Tech
Center, 367 F.3d 1359, 1364, 70 USPQ2d 1827, 1830 (Fed. Cir. 2004).
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