The broadest reasonable interpretation rubric employed by the PTO cannot ignore characteristic features of claim terms in favor of a purely literal interpretation of those terms. Here, for example, the broadest reasonable interpretation of a “wireless” communication module was found not to include a removable memory card simply because a memory card literally does not include wires. Similarly, the broadest reasonable interpretation of “streaming video” was found not to include continual sending of a collection of distinct images simply because videos are literally composed of a collection of images. This would be a good case to consult and cite in response to an overly broad interpretation asserted by the PTO.
Background / Facts: The application on appeal here from rejection at the PTO is directed to a device for communicating digital camera image and video information over a network. The device includes, among other components, a housing that stores a “wireless” communication module that communicates “streaming video” to a destination. The prior art discloses a system where a camera can send a collection of images to a computer system via a removable memory card. The PTO reasoned that, under a broadest reasonable interpretation, the removable memory card could be construed as a “wireless” device because, to exchange information, it “must be removed from [camera] 30 and inserted into the computer system 20. In other words, no wire is utilized.” Similarly, the PTO reasoned that, under a broadest reasonable interpretation, “[a] continuous process of sending images is the equivalent of streaming video.”
Issue(s): Whether the broadest reasonable interpretation of a “wireless” communication module includes a removable memory card, and whether the broadest reasonable interpretation of “streaming video” includes continual sending of different images.
Holding(s): No. “The [] application consistently uses the term ‘wireless’ to refer to methods and devices that carry waves through atmospheric space, such as Bluetooth and various cellular protocols. [] The metal contacts of a removable memory card do not carry a signal through atmospheric space using electromagnetic or acoustic waves, and thus removable memory card 35 is not a wireless communication module under the broadest reasonable interpretation of that term in view of the specification.” Further, “[s]treaming video is the continuous transmission of video. A series of e-mails with attachments does not meet the definition of ‘streaming’ and still images do not meet the definition of ‘video.’”