NOTE: This disposition is nonprecedential.

United States Court of Appeals 

for the Federal Circuit ______________________

PULSE ELECTRONICS, INC.,

Appellant

v.

U.D. ELECTRONIC CORP.,

Cross-Appellant

______________________

2020-2129, 2020-2177

______________________

Appeals from the United States Patent and Trademark 

Office, Patent Trial and Appeal Board in No. IPR2019-

00511.

______________________

Decided: July 1, 2021

______________________

ERIC CARR, Gazdzinski & Associates, PC, San Diego, 

CA, argued for appellant. 

 ROBERT H. SLOSS, Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves and Savitch LLP, Palo Alto, CA, argued for cross-appellant. 

 ______________________

Before DYK, LINN, and O’MALLEY, Circuit Judges.

DYK, Circuit Judge.

Case: 20-2129 Document: 44 Page: 1 Filed: 07/01/2021
2 PULSE ELECTRONICS, INC. v. U.D. ELECTRONIC CORP.

Patent owner Pulse Electronics, Inc. (“Pulse”) appeals

the final written decision by the Patent Trial and Appeal 

Board (“Board”) in an inter partes review proceeding. Petitioner U.D. Electronic Corp. (“UDE”) cross-appeals. We 

affirm in part and reverse in part.

BACKGROUND

Pulse is the owner of U.S. Patent No. 6,773,302 (the 

“’302 patent”), which is directed to an improved design for 

a connector such as a phone jack or ethernet plug. See ’302 

patent, Abstract; col. 1, l. 63–col. 2, l. 4; col. 4, ll. 46–52. 

The ’302 patent’s design is intended to use the interior volume of the connector more efficiently while reducing crosstalk and electromagnetic interference between the internal 

components. To achieve these ends, the ’302 patent specification describes using one or more substrates, such as circuit boards, arranged vertically within the connector 

housing and orthogonal to the front face of the connector. 

The specification also teaches shaping the conductors 

within the housing using approximately 90° bends to reduce the extent to which the conductors overlap with each 

other (thereby reducing interference).

UDE filed a petition for inter partes review of the 

’302 patent on December 28, 2018, challenging claims 1, 3–

9, and 11–16 as obvious over various combinations of prior 

art references. In addition to its response, Pulse filed a 

contingent motion to amend in which it proposed substitute claims 17–23, corresponding to original claims 1, 9, 11, 

and 13–16, in the event that the Board found any of said 

original claims unpatentable.

After instituting inter partes review proceedings, the 

Board issued its final written decision on July 22, 2020, 

concluding that all of the original challenged claims were 

unpatentable. The Board granted the motion to amend 

with respect to substitute claims 18, 19, 22, and 23, but determined that substitute claims 17, 20, and 21 are indefinite. Pulse appeals as to original claims 1, 3–9, and 11–16 

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PULSE ELECTRONICS, INC. v. U.D. ELECTRONIC CORP. 3

(i.e., all of the challenged original claims), as well as substitute claims 17, 20, and 21. UDE cross-appeals as to substitute claims 22 and 23.

DISCUSSION

I

Pulse contends that original claims 1, 3, 7, 9, and 13–

16 are patentable because the Board erred in its construction of the term “effectively curved portion” appearing in 

those claims. We disagree.

Claim 1, which the Board found illustrative, reads as 

follows:

A connector assembly comprising:

a connector housing comprising a connector having:

. . .

a plurality of first conductors disposed . . . to form 

an electrical contact . . .

. . .

wherein at least a portion of said first conductors 

are substantially coplanar and each include an effectively curved portion, the effective radius of each 

said effectively curved portion being different for 

each of said first conductors.

’302 patent, col. 19, ll. 23–47.

The Board construed “effectively curved portion” as 

“any form of bend of the first conductors,” finding that this 

interpretation is consistent with the term’s plain meaning 

and that the specification does not define the term differently. J.A. 15–16. 

Because UDE filed its petition for inter partes review 

after November 13, 2018, the Phillips claim construction

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4 PULSE ELECTRONICS, INC. v. U.D. ELECTRONIC CORP.

standard applies. See Changes to the Claim Construction 

Standard for Interpreting Claims in Trial Proceedings Before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, 83 Fed. Reg. 

51,340 (Oct. 11, 2018) (codified at 37 C.F.R. § 42.100(b)). 

We exercise de novo review when, as here, the Board’s 

claim construction does not rely on extrinsic evidence. See 

SIPCO, LLC v. Emerson Elec. Co., 980 F.3d 865, 870 (Fed. 

Cir. 2020) (citing AC Techs. S.A. v. Amazon.com, Inc., 912 

F.3d 1358, 1365 (Fed. Cir. 2019)).

Pulse contends that the claim should be construed to 

limit the curvature to approximately 90 degrees, arguing 

that the figures in the specification support this definition 

and that the orientation of the substrate requires that the 

conductors curve at approximately 90 degrees. UDE responds that Pulse’s construction would improperly limit 

the claim language by reference to embodiments in the 

specification.

We agree with the Board’s claim construction. As UDE 

notes, the claim language itself does not limit the “effectively curved portion” to curvature of approximately 90 degrees, nor does it specify a particular orientation for 

arranging the substrates. As we have repeatedly held, it is 

improper “to import limitations from the specification into 

the claims.” Hill-Rom Servs., Inc. v. Stryker Corp., 755 

F.3d 1367, 1371–72 (Fed. Cir. 2014) (citing LiebelFlarsheim Co. v. Medrad, Inc., 358 F.3d 898, 906 (Fed. Cir. 

2004)). Embodiments in the specification—even if there is 

only one embodiment—cannot limit the scope of the claims 

absent the patentee’s “words or expressions of manifest exclusion or restriction.” Id. at 1372 (quoting LiebelFlarsheim, 358 F.3d at 906); see also Info-Hold, Inc. v. Applied Media Techs. Corp., 783 F.3d 1262, 1267 (Fed. Cir. 

2015) (explaining that an invention will only be limited to 

its preferred embodiment when “the patentee uses words 

that manifest a clear intention to restrict the scope of the 

claims to that embodiment”). Here, there are no such 

words; nothing in the claims or specification indicates that 

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PULSE ELECTRONICS, INC. v. U.D. ELECTRONIC CORP. 5

the claims should be limited to the embodiments presented 

in the specification. The ’302 patent demonstrates, moreover, that Pulse knew how to restrict angles to 90 degrees 

when it wanted to—and did not so limit the “effectively 

curved portion.” See ’302 patent, col. 20, ll. 14–16 (specifying “substantially orthogonal” placement of substrate relative to the front face of the connector housing); id. col. 20, 

ll. 32–35 (same); id. col. 21, ll. 1–3, 39–42 (same); id. 

col. 24, ll. 1–3 (same).

Pulse further argues that the internal structure of the 

connector requires the conductors to bend approximately 

90 degrees. Pulse, however, has not demonstrated that the 

Board’s construction would render the device inoperable. 

See Power Integrations, Inc. v. Fairchild Semiconductor 

Int’l, Inc., 904 F.3d 965, 972 (Fed. Cir. 2018) (citing Ecolab, 

Inc. v. FMC Corp., 569 F.3d 1335, 1345 (Fed. Cir. 2009)) 

(noting impermissibility of an inoperable claim construction when the term admits of an operable construction). 

This argument therefore does not demonstrate that the 

Board’s claim construction was erroneous.

We therefore affirm the Board’s construction of the 

term “effectively curved portion” and its determination 

that claims 1, 3, 7, 9, and 13–16 are unpatentable. 

Relatedly, Pulse argues that the terminals depicted in 

a prior art reference, U.S. Patent No. 6,179,668 (“Kan”), 

are “effectively parallel straight runs” and do not have different effective radii, thus failing to satisfy the claim limitation. See Appellant’s Br. at 33–34; Kan fig. 3A. We find 

that the Board’s characterization—that the terminals in 

this portion of Kan have different effective radii—is a factual determination supported by substantial evidence.

II

Pulse next argues that the Board erred in finding 

claims 6–8 obvious over two prior art references. We see 

no error in the Board’s determination.

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6 PULSE ELECTRONICS, INC. v. U.D. ELECTRONIC CORP.

A patent claim is unpatentable “if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the 

prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would 

have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a 

person having ordinary skill in the art.” 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) 

(pre-AIA).1 Obviousness is a mixed question of law and 

fact. Harmonic Inc. v. Avid Tech., Inc., 815 F.3d 1356, 1363 

(Fed. Cir. 2016). In reviewing the Board’s determination 

on obviousness, we review the ultimate legal conclusion de 

novo and the underlying factual findings for substantial evidence. Id. (citing In re Cuozzo Speed Techs., LLC, 793 F.3d 

1268, 1280 (Fed. Cir. 2015)).

In relevant part, claim 6 (from which claims 7 and 8 

depend) recites:

A connector assembly comprising:

a connector housing comprising a connector having:

. . .

at least one substrate having at least one electrically conductive pathway associated therewith;

. . .

wherein said at least one substrate is disposed in 

substantially vertical orientation within, and substantially orthogonal to the front of, said housing.

’302 patent, col. 19, l. 61–col. 20, l. 16.

1 Because the challenged claims of the ’302 patent 

have an effective filing date before March 16, 2013, we apply the version of § 103 in effect before the adoption of the 

Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (“AIA”), Pub. L. No. 

112-29, 125 Stat. 284 (2011). See id. § 3(n)(1), 125 Stat. at 

293.

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PULSE ELECTRONICS, INC. v. U.D. ELECTRONIC CORP. 7

The Board determined that the vertical and orthogonal 

orientation of the substrate was obvious over the combination of Kan and U.S. Patent No. 4,225,209 (“Hughes”). Kan 

and Hughes—discussed in further detail below—are both 

directed to electric connectors. In its housing, Kan includes 

a circuit board with a substantially vertical orientation. 

Hughes, meanwhile, discloses a connector that can mount 

orthogonally to an external circuit board. Relying on expert testimony, the Board found that a person of ordinary 

skill in the art would have been motivated, in view of 

Hughes, to reorient the circuit board in Kan to achieve a 

vertical and orthogonal orientation (thereby also saving 

space in the connector).

Pulse argues that these references teach away from 

each other because circuit board in Hughes is mounted to 

the outside of the connector and would be too large to fit 

inside the connector housing. This does not foreclose the 

possibility, however, that a skilled artisan could take inspiration from the orientation of the external circuit board in 

Hughes and apply that insight to reorient the internal circuit board in Kan.

The Board’s finding is supported by substantial evidence, and we see no error in its analysis. We therefore 

affirm the determination that claims 6–8 would have been 

obvious over the combination of Kan and Hughes. Similarly, we find no error in the Board’s finding that the 

“multi-port connector assembly” in claims 9, 11, 12, and 16

of the ’302 patent would have been obvious in light of Kan, 

Hughes, and a prior art reference directed to a multi-port 

connector assembly—viz., U.S. Patent No. 5,639,267 

(“Loudermilk”).

We have considered Pulse’s remaining arguments regarding the original claims and find them unpersuasive.

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8 PULSE ELECTRONICS, INC. v. U.D. ELECTRONIC CORP.

III

Pulse finally argues that the Board erred by finding 

substitute claims 17, 20, and 21 indefinite. We agree.

Substitute claim 17 reads as follows:

A connector assembly comprising:

a connector housing comprising a connector having:

. . .

a plurality of first conductors . . . configured to 

form an electrical contact . . .

wherein at least a portion of said first conductors 

are substantially coplanar and each include a portion producing a desired effect of being curved by 

approximately 90 degrees . . . .

J.A. 593 (redline markup removed). Similarly, substitute 

claim 20 recites “a portion producing a desired effect of 

changing direction by approximately 90 degrees,” id. at 

598, and substitute claim 21 recites conductors that “include a portion producing a desired effect of being curved 

by approximately 90 degrees.” id. at 599. 

The Board found that a person of ordinary skill would 

understand the recited curves of approximately 90 degrees 

as “a term of degree including values near or equal to 90 

degrees” (to account, e.g., for “manufacturing tolerances”). 

Id. at 60. The Board determined, however, that “the addition of ‘producing a desired effect’ adds ambiguity, and 

makes it impossible to define the metes and bounds of substitute claims 17, 20, and 21.” Id. at 57. In the Board’s 

view, because the specification does not define the “desired 

effect,” the term “would be subject to much speculation”

and “open to too much interpretation to be considered definite.” Id. at 59.

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A patent must describe the invention “in such full, 

clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person 

skilled in the art to which it pertains . . . to make and use

the same,” and “shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject 

matter which the applicant regards as his invention.” 35 

U.S.C. § 112, ¶¶ 1–2 (pre-AIA).2 The Supreme Court has 

interpreted “§ 112, ¶ 2 to require that a patent’s claims, 

viewed in light of the specification and prosecution history, 

inform those skilled in the art about the scope of the invention with reasonable certainty.” Nautilus, Inc. v. Biosig Instruments, Inc., 572 U.S. 898, 910 (2014). That is, because 

claims “notify that public of what is within the protections 

of the patent, and what is not,” claims must “be cast in 

clear—as opposed to ambiguous, vague, [or] indefinite—

terms,” to an appropriate degree of “reasonable precision in 

the use of language in the context of the circumstances.” In 

re Packard, 751 F.3d 1307, 1313 (Fed. Cir. 2014).

“Indefiniteness, as a subset of claim construction, is a 

question of law which this court reviews without deference.” Id. at 1311 (citing Kinetic Concepts, Inc. v. Blue Sky 

Med. Grp., Inc., 554 F.3d 1010, 1022 (Fed. Cir. 2009)).

The Board erred in finding that the term “a desired effect” renders substitute claims 17, 20, and 21 indefinite. 

The “desired effect” has a clear objective meaning: that the 

conductors curve or change direction by approximately 90 

degrees. No “speculation” is necessary to understand “the 

desired effect”; the term is merely an instance of inartful 

surplusage rather than a fatal ambiguity. While we generally disfavor claim constructions resulting in surplus language, we have also recognized that “surplusage may exist 

in some claims.” ERBE Elektromedizin GmbH v. Canady 

2 Because the ’302 patent was filed before the adoption of the AIA, the prior version of § 112 governs. See AIA

§ 4(e), 125 Stat. at 297.

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10 PULSE ELECTRONICS, INC. v. U.D. ELECTRONIC CORP.

Tech. LLC, 629 F.3d 1278, 1286 (Fed. Cir. 2010) (citing 

Pickholtz v. Rainbow Tech., Inc., 284 F.3d 1365, 1373 (Fed. 

Cir. 2002) (concluding that the word “system” was surplusage when the patent at issue used “computer” and “computer system” interchangeably with no indication of a 

difference in meaning)). Because the “desired effect” is objectively restricted to curvature “near or equal to 90 degrees,” see J.A. 60, substitute claims 17, 20, and 21 are not 

indefinite. The Board’s determination to the contrary is 

reversed. 

IV

In its cross-appeal, UDE argues that the Board erred 

by finding that substitute claims 22 and 23 are not rendered obvious by the combination of Kan and Hughes. We 

see no error in the Board’s determination.

Substitute claims 22 and 23 recite a “connector assembly” in which several “first conductors” (or “first conductor 

means”) include a portion in which the conductors change 

direction by approximately 90 degrees, such that the bent 

portion of each conductor has a different “effective radius.” 

J.A. 599–602.

Before the Board, UDE argued that substitute claims 

22 and 23 were obvious over (1) Kan alone, and (2) Kan in 

combination with Hughes. According to UDE, it would be 

obvious to modify Kan in view of Hughes to achieve the 

claimed bend of 90 degrees.

Kan is directed to an electric connector with an internal circuit board (to enable functionality such as processing 

input signals and preventing crosstalk) and “curved contacts.” Kan, Abstract; col. 1, ll. 6–11, 29–35. In particular, 

Kan includes a set of terminals that run horizontally 

through a terminal board, in which the terminals are 

spaced out by curving away from one another. See id., figs. 

1, 3A. The terminals then bend downward by about 90 degrees, protruding out of the terminal board, and then 

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PULSE ELECTRONICS, INC. v. U.D. ELECTRONIC CORP. 11

continue to curve back underneath the terminal board. Id., 

fig. 3B.

Hughes discloses a type of phone jack that can be 

plugged into a receptacle; the receptacle can in turn be orthogonally mounted to a circuit board. This is enabled by 

the plurality of conductors in the receptacle, which are 

“bent laterally . . . through an angle of 90 degrees.” See

Hughes, col. 3, ll. 42–44; see also id., figs. 1, 3. The ends of 

the conductors extend through the side wall of the receptacle so that they can be soldered into a circuit board 

mounted on the side of the receptacle. See id., col. 3, ll. 56–

59; col. 4, ll. 11–13; fig. 1.

The Board determined that substitute claims 22 and 23 

would not have been obvious over Kan alone. The Board 

noted that the “first conductors” in the substitute claims 

must have “portions” that both produce a net change in direction of approximately 90 degrees and have different effective radii. The Board found that the terminals in Kan 

fail to teach that combination—i.e., while Figures 1 and 2

of Kan depict a 90-degree bend in the terminals, and Figure 

3A depicts the terminals as having different effective radii, 

the 90-degree bend and the different radii are found in separate portions of the terminals. See J.A. 62–63 (citing Kan, 

figs. 1, 2, 3A). Thus, Kan does not depict terminals in 

which the same portion is bent 90 degrees with different 

effective radii. 

The Board also rejected UDE’s argument (the only argument UDE presses on appeal) that the orthogonal connection taught in Hughes could be combined with Kan to 

produce a change in direction of 90 degrees. The Board 

found no motivation to combine Kan and Hughes to “rearrange the conductors” and “meet the limitations of proposed substitute claims 22 and 23.” J.A. 63. As such, the 

Board determined that the combination of Kan and Hughes 

did not render substitute claims 22 and 23 obvious.

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12 PULSE ELECTRONICS, INC. v. U.D. ELECTRONIC CORP.

Substantial evidence supports the Board’s decision. 

Pulse’s expert testified that a skilled artisan would not 

have been motivated to combine Kan and Hughes, given 

the substantial differences between the two prior art connectors. This evidence supports a finding that a skilled artisan would not have combined the terminals in Kan with 

the orthogonal bend in Hughes to create the structure of 

the conductors recited in substitute claims 22 and 23.

UDE also argues that the Board’s finding that substitute claims 22 and 23 are not obvious over the combination 

of Kan and Hughes is inconsistent with its finding that this 

combination renders claims 6–8 obvious. With respect to 

claims 6–8, however, the Board was discussing a different 

aspect the prior art—finding a motivation to reorient Kan’s 

internal circuit board in view of Hughes. The fact that the 

references could be combined for one purpose does not require that they would necessarily be combined for another 

purpose.

We therefore affirm the Board’s decision to grant the 

motion to amend with respect to substitute claims 22 and 

23.

AFFIRMED IN PART AND REVERSED IN PART

COSTS

No costs.

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