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Reversed 

Tech Center 1600 Biotechnology and Organic Chemistry

1618 Advanced Aesthetic Technologies, Inc. 16320754 LEBOVITZ 103 WOMBLE BOND DICKINSON (US) LLP CABRAL, ROBERT S

1637 MGI Tech Co., Ltd. 16624782 GRIMES 103 WESTMAN CHAMPLIN & KOEHLER, P.A. CHUNDURU, SURYAPRABHA

Tech Center 1700 Chemical & Materials Engineering

1776 OUTSET MEDICAL, INC. 16550042 TIMM 102/103 SHAY GLENN LLP MCKENZIE, THOMAS B

1777 Waters Technologies Corporation 16800928 COLAIANNI 103 WOMBLE BOND DICKINSON (US) LLP / Waters LEBRON, BENJAMIN L

1789 JOHNS MANVILLE 14132742 WILSON 103 JOHNS MANVILLE GILLETT, JENNIFER

Tech Center 2100 Computer Architecture and Software

2121 BRIDGESTONE AMERICAS TIRE OPERATIONS, LLC 17626453 FRAHM 103 BRIDGESTONE AMERICAS, INC. RUTTEN, JAMES D

2128 STMICROELECTRONICS S.R.L. et al. 15423272 JEFFERY 103 Seed IP Law Group LLP/STMicroelectronics FERNANDEZ RIVAS, OMAR F

2153 Oracle International Corporation 17125777 DEJMEK 102 HICKMAN BECKER BINGHAM LEDESMA/ORACLE NGUYEN, KIM T

2154 Tara Singhal 14637253 DEJMEK 103 Rimon (DBJG) AHMED, SABA

2173 ALIPAY (HANGZHOU) INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD. 17361034 CRAIG 102/103 FISH & RICHARDSON P.C. (DA) CALDERON IV, ALVARO R

2181 WAGO Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH 16827112 CUTITTA 103 Muncy, Geissler, Olds & Lowe, P.C. LEWIS-TAYLOR, DAYTON A.

2199 VMWARE, INC. 16820752 GUIJT 103 Quarles & Brady LLP/Broadcom Patents HEADLY, MELISSA A

Tech Center 2400 Networking, Multiplexing, Cable, and Security

2455 Akamai Technologies, Inc. 17021732 SHIANG 103 Akamai Technologies, Inc. VU, VIET D

Tech Center 2600 Communications

2656 Cerence Operating Company 17133718 GUIJT 102/103 OCCHIUTI & ROHLICEK LLP ISLAM, MOHAMMAD K

Tech Center 2800 Semiconductors, Electrical and Optical Systems and Components

2829 GLOBALFOUNDRIES U.S. Inc. 16406071 GUPTA 102/103 HOFFMAN WARNICK LLC MAI, ANH D

2857 EBTRON Inc. 16035183 CASHION 103 Fox Rothschild LLP PARK, HYUN D

2857 EBTRON Inc. 17165506 CASHION 103 Fox Rothschild LLP PARK, HYUN D

2884 HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL INC. 15810959 BEST 112(2)/103 HONEYWELL/LKGLOBAL Intellectual Property Services Group GUNBERG, EDWIN C

After reviewing the Specification, we agree with Appellant that a person having ordinary skill in the art would understand that the phrase “optionally a sensitizing ion” means that a sensitizing ion—i.e., an ion that absorbs incident energy and transfers it to one or both of the emitting ion(s)—may or may not be present in any of the first, second, or third taggants recited in the claim. See Appeal Br. 11–12.

In the Examiner’s Answer, the Examiner correctly points out that this interpretation means that the claim has the same scope it would have had if the phrase were omitted entirely.7 Answer 3. Nonetheless, the Examiner maintains the rejection, citing the canon of construction against surplusage. Id. The Examiner states that “correct[ion of] this issue during prosecution ensures that the claim, if and when it issues, may be properly construed by practitioners and courts in the future.” Id.

Although we appreciate the Examiner’s desire to have claims that will be correctly construed when and if a patent issues, we cannot affirm the indefiniteness rejection to prevent a violation of the canon against surplusage. As the Supreme Court has explained in the context of statutory interpretation, “canons [of interpretation] are not mandatory rules. They are guides that need not be conclusive.” Chickasaw Nation v. United States, 534 U.S. 84, 94 (2001) (internal quote marks omitted). Here, even though the proper interpretation of the phrase “optionally a sensitizing ion” means that the phrase does not change the scope of the independent claims, its interpretation would be clear to a person having ordinary skill in the art.

Tech Center 3600 Transportation, Construction, Electronic Commerce, Agriculture, National Security, and License & Review

3633 Välinge Innovation AB 16738602 SHAH 103 Boone IP Law, PLLC KENNY, DANIEL J

3664 KUKA Deutschland GmbH 16469771 SCHOPFER 103 Dorton & Willis LLP RINK, RYAN J

Tech Center 3700 Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing, and Products & Design

3763 Fluor Technologies Corporation 16219126 BROWN 103 Fluor Coporation C/O Conley Rose, P.C. KING, BRIAN M

3763 Danfoss A/S 16461938 WOODS 103 McCormick, Paulding & Huber, PLLC SHAIKH, MERAJ A

Affirmed-in-Part 

Tech Center 1700 Chemical & Materials Engineering

1783 Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd. 16326693 ROSS 103 103 Rimon PC - Panasonic Corporation PLESZCZYNSKA, JOANNA

Tech Center 2100 Computer Architecture and Software

2136 ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES, INC. 16719076 OWENS 103 103 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. c/o Davidson Sheehan LLP ALSIP, MICHAEL

Tech Center 3600 Transportation, Construction, Electronic Commerce, Agriculture, National Security, and License & Review

3665 DAEGU GYEONGBUK INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 16028439 WOODS 103 112(1) 41.50 112(1)/112(2) LEX IP MEISTER, PLLC JAGOLINZER, SCOTT ROSS

Affirmed 

Tech Center 1600 Biotechnology and Organic Chemistry

1615 BAXTER INTERNATIONAL INC. 15756500 LEBOVITZ 103 K&L Gates LLP-Chicago AL-AWADI, DANAH J

1616 SHIN-ETSU CHEMICAL CO., LTD. 15926455 KATZ 103 OLIFF PLC VANHORN, ABIGAIL LOUISE

1627 Lanny Johnson 17453432 LEBOVITZ 103 Stonebridge IP, PLLC CHONG, YONG SOO

1632 OZGENE HOLDINGS PTY LTD 15034970 TOWNSEND 103 Knobbe, Martens, Olson & Bear, LLP MOLOYE, TITILAYO

1642 Roche Glycart AG 15298675 NEW 103 CLARK+ELBING LLP/Genentech, and Roche MOSELEY II, NELSON B

1642 Celldex Therapeutics, Inc. 15557035 LEBOVITZ 103/OTDP NELSON MULLINS RILEY & SCARBOROUGH LLP REDDIG, PETER J

1653 Shahin Raffi et al. 13519473 McNEILL 103 SCULLY SCOTT MURPHY & PRESSER, PC MCNEIL, STEPHANIE A N

Tech Center 1700 Chemical & Materials Engineering

1721 SHIN-ETSU CHEMICAL CO., LTD. 16872589 MCGEE 103 OLIFF PLC MERSHON, JAYNE L

1761 The Procter & Gamble Company 16001979 GUPTA 112(2) THE PROCTER & GAMBLE COMPANY MRUK, BRIAN P

1786 Kwansei Gakuin Educational Foundation et al. 16213021 HASTINGS 103 FOLEY & LARDNER LLP JEON, SEOKMIN

1787 PRC-DeSoto International, Inc. 14775166 CAPP 112(2)/103 PPG Industries, Inc. IP Law Group JACKSON, MONIQUE R

1789 WATERSHED GEOSYNTHETICS LLC 16535033 HOUSEL 103 GARDNER GROFF & GREENWALD, PC SALVATORE, LYNDA

1795 ALPHA ASSEMBLY SOLUTIONS INC. 15265385 HOUSEL 103 Element Solutions - Patents c/o Carmody Torrance Sandak & Hennessey LLP RUFO, LOUIS J

Tech Center 2100 Computer Architecture and Software

2112 NVIDIA Corporation 16685641 DEJMEK 103 Davis Wright Tremaine LLP/NVIDIA CHAUDRY, MUJTABA M

2117 Comcast Cable Communications, LLC 16212092 HOANG 103 BakerHostetler / Comcast LOPEZ ALVAREZ, OLVIN

2126 GOOGLE LLC 15951679 JEFFERY 101 41.50 101 Gray Ice Higdon (Google LLC) SITIRICHE, LUIS A

2126 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft 15781289 FETTING 112(2)/101/103 SIEMENS CORPORATION MANG, VAN C

2153 Go Daddy Operating Company, LLC 17126822 SILVERMAN 103 GREENBERG TRAURIG (NJ) LIN, ALLEN S

2175 Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft 16532777 CHUNG 103 CROWELL & MORING LLP DUONG, HIEN LUONGVAN

2177 360 IT, UAB 16986095 FETTING 103 Braxton Perrone, PLLC HUYNH, THU V

2195 VMware, Inc 16400393 CHUNG 112(2)/101/102/103 41.50 101 Quarles & Brady LLP/Broadcom Patents TEETS, BRADLEY A

Tech Center 2400 Networking, Multiplexing, Cable, and Security

2482 MSG Entertainment Group, LLC 17201949 STRAUSS 103 STERNE, KESSLER, GOLDSTEIN & FOX P.L.L.C. KWAN, MATTHEW K

2491 INTELLIGENT PLATFORMS, LLC 15145073 BUI 103 Marshall, Gerstein & Borun LLP (Emerson) AHSAN, SYED M

Tech Center 2600 Communications

2626 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. 16790115 CRAIG 103 THE FARRELL LAW FIRM, P.C. LIN, HANG

2666 ZIOSOFT, INC. 16832303 NAPPI 102 PEARNE & GORDON LLP WILBURN, MOLLY K

2812 CREELED, INC. 15459161 GUPTA 103 WITHROW & TERRANOVA, P.L.L.C. SEVEN, EVREN

Tech Center 3600 Transportation, Construction, Electronic Commerce, Agriculture, National Security, and License & Review

3624 Sarah Andrews et al. 13337703 KHAN 103 101 Duncan Galloway Greenwald PLLC SCHEUNEMANN, RICHARD N

3626 ASHBEC, LLC 15666640 WIEDER 101 SHUMAKER, LOOP & KENDRICK, LLP BARR, MARY EVANGELINE

3643 LINCO FOOD SYSTEMS A/S 16316750 WOODS 103 GREENBLUM & BERNSTEIN, P.L.C. VALENTI, ANDREA M

3646 Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. 16514010 SCHOPFER 103 112(2) PEARNE & GORDON LLP ISSING, GREGORY C

3682 David Uhalley et al. 15663479 FETTING 112(2) 103 David A. Uhalley PATEL, DIPEN M

3683 AON GLOBAL OPERATIONS SE, SINGAPORE BRANCH 17030814 ANDERSON 112(2)/101 Gardella Grace P.A. RINES, ROBERT D

3683 Capital One Services, LLC 17371937 FETTING 112(2) 101 BANNER & WITCOFF, LTD. HENRY, MATTHEW D

3684 OVERALL PARTS SOLUTIONS, INC. 13678819 COURTENAY 101 CARSTENS, ALLEN & GOURLEY, LLP FADOK, MARK A

3686 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION 16452871 MOHANTY 101 Calderon Safran & Cole P.C. FURTADO, WINSTON RAHUL

3692 Mastercard International Incorporated 16218917 MEDLOCK 112(1)/112(2)/103 101 Talem IP Law, LLP ABDULLAEV, AMANULLA

3694 International Business Machines Corporation 16365778 BUSCH 101 International Business Machines Corporation c/o Proactive Patents SHAH, BHAVIN D

3695 Walmart Apollo, LLC 16774512 MEDLOCK 101 Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP (SF)(Walmart) MAGUIRE, LINDSAY M

3695 Mitchell International, Inc. 17010712 HORVATH 101 Richard A. Dunning Jr. A Professional Corporation SUBRAMANIAN, NARAYANSWAMY

Tech Center 3700 Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing, and Products & Design

3711 Alexander Stern 16779607 SCHOPFER 112(1)/112(2)/101 Alexander Stern PIERCE, WILLIAM M

3771 Neuravi Limited 16914762 OSINSKI 103 Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP c/o Johnson & Johnson RESTAINO, ANDREW PETER

3783 WILLOW INNOVATIONS, INC. 18080860 GUIJT 103 Willow Innovations, Inc. FREHE, WILLIAM R

3791 RESMED SENSOR TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED 16332629 SHAH 112(2)/101 Botos Churchill IP Law LLP JHIN, CHANEL J

3792 Lifeq Global Limited 15521667 HUTCHINGS 112(1) SMITH, GAMBRELL & RUSSELL EVANISKO, GEORGE ROBERT

3792 Board of Trustees of Michigan State University et al. 17057990 SONG 112(2)/101 Harness Dickey (MSU) MOSS, JAMES R

Reexamination

Reversed 

Tech Center 2100 Computer Architecture and Software

2192 APRESE SYSTEMS TEXAS LLC (PATENT OWNER) et al. 90014711 9,207,924 14/587,732 CHEN Concurring JEFFERY 102/103 KASHA LAW LLC THIRD PARTY REQUESTER: AKIN GUMP STRAUSS HAUER & FELD ESCALANTE, OVIDIO