At The Federal Circuit - PTO Claim Construction Reversed Based On Usage In Specification

A "construction is unreasonable" under the broadest reasonable interpretation standard where "it comports with neither the plain meaning of the term nor the specification."  In re Imes, 113 U.S.P.Q.2d 1522, 1525 (Fed. Cir. 2015). 

Imes was an appeal from a decision of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (Board) affirming the rejection of all pending claims as anticipated or obvious in U.S. Patent Application No. 09/874,423 ("the '423 application").  The '423 application is directed to a device for communicating digital camera image and video information over a network.  On appeal, Mr. Imes successfully challenged aspects of the Board's claim construction and interpretation of the prior art.  The Federal Circuit thus reversed the rejections of independent claims 1, 34, and 43, and their dependent claims.  The rejection of claim 1 was addressed separately from the rejection of claims 34 and 43.