Court Opinion

ID: 9475156
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 05:18:34.515092+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:44:32.294688
License: Public Domain

JACK R. MILLER, Senior Circuit Judge,
concurring.
I believe appellant’s argument, that the PTO erroneously refused to apply section 112, last paragraph, is reasonable and should not be rejected out of hand or ignored by the majority and Judge Newman’s concurring opinions. Such an approach has not been foreclosed by prior opinions of this court. See In re Mulder, 716 F.2d 1542, 1549, 219 USPQ 189, 196 (Fed.Cir.1983) and In re Sweet, 393 F.2d 837, 841-42, 157 USPQ 495, 499 (CCPA 1968). See also Moy, The Interpretation of Means Expressions During Prosecution, 68 J. Pat. Off. Soc’y 246, 247 (June, 1986). I do not share Judge Newman’s interpretation of this argument of appellant as an attempt to insert into the claim an additional limitation in contravention of section 112, second paragraph; nor does In re Lundberg, 244 F.2d 543, 113 USPQ 530 (CCPA 1957), state that section 112, last paragraph, may never be applied. However, the issue is not dispositive because the board correctly interpreted the claim in question.
Also, I would reject the argument proffered by the board, appellant, and the Solicitor, that nonoperativeness or invalidity of a reference precludes its use as prior art under section 103. What a reference suggests depends upon how one of ordinary skill would interpret it.