Case No. IP-2018-000199

59.The first member must have a head. Mr Jack said in his report that as a matter of normal engineering language a “head” of a component such as a bolt or screw is an element that has a larger diameter than the body of the component, such that it extends from the body in order to provide a bearing surface. The latter means an area of contact between two elements at which purchase or pressure may be applied. In the context of the Patent the head of the first member bears upon the left hand workpiece (as shown in the Figures) and must therefore be at the end of the first member proximal to the technician. 60.Mr McKay agreed with Mr Jack to the extent that the head of the first member must be suitable for locating against a face of one workpiece, as required by integer 1(19). It could be more than one workpiece and no particular workpiece is specified. Mr McKay also said that the diameter of the head must be greater than that of the aperture of the workpiece against which it is located. Beyond that, so far as Mr McKay was concerned, the claim imposes none of the more detailed requirements suggested by Mr Jack. 61.I agree with Mr McKay. I can see no support in the claim or in the specification for the detailed meaning of integer 1(3) adopted by Mr Jack. I did not understand Mr Jack to be saying that “head” is a strict term of art such that the head of any component must invariably have a larger diameter than that of the component’s body. If he was saying that, he pointed to no documentary support for head as a term of art and Mr McKay did not endorse that idea. 62.A head will provide a bearing surface; in the case of a component such as a bolt or a screw, because of the way they are generally used one would expect the head to be larger than the body of the bolt or screw so that the head can provide a bearing surface. The purpose of the head of the first member of the Patent, as both experts agreed, was to bear upon a workpiece. It must therefore be larger in diameter than the aperture of the workpiece against which it bears. In the context of the claim, the relative diameter of the head and the rest of the first member is of no purposive significance. In my view, therefore, the skilled person would not interpret the term “head” to require that its diameter be greater than that of any other particular part of the first member. 63.The head must be at one end of the first member. The claim does not expressly specify which end. For the reasons given above, the head is defined by its purpose: to bear against the face of a workpiece. Whichever part of the first member does that is the head.