Appeal 2007-2563
Application 10/058,640
The serpentine bands in claim 1, but not in claim 10, are “consisting
of a plurality of interconnected struts.” The phrase “consisting of” is a
“term[ ] of art in patent law that ‘define[s] the scope of the claim with
respect to what unrecited additional components or steps, if any, are
excluded from the scope of the claim.’ MPEP §2111.03; accord Vehicular
Techs. Corp., 212 F.3d at 1382-83. The phrase ‘consisting of’ signifies
restriction and exclusion of unrecited steps or components. MPEP
§2111.03.” Conoco Inc. v. Energy & Envtl. Int’l LC, 460 F.3d 1349, 1360,
79 USPQ2d 1801, 1808-09 (Fed. Cir. 2006).
A “strut” is a structural member that is used to resist longitudinal
compression.1 By reciting that the serpentine bands are “consisting of . . .
interconnected struts,” we interpret the claim to exclude any structural
member from the serpentine band other than the strut.
Claims 1 and 10 also recite that each “wishbone connector,” which
connects adjacent serpentine bands, has an “elongate portion . . . disposed
between the two serpentine bands” which “does not overlap longitudally
with either of the two serpentine bands.” The elongate portion has two distal
and two proximal legs, each which connect, respectively, to an adjacent
serpentine band. The term “overlap” means “extend over and cover a part
of” and “to coincide in part with; having in common with.”2 In other words,
when one structural member “covers” another, they have a part in common.
We interpret the phrase “does not overlap longitudinally” to mean that the
1 The Random House College Dictionary 1304 (Revised Edition 1982).
2 Id. at 948.
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