The words mean what they say…

Short and sweet today, from the Federal Circuit.

In an appeal captioned SmartMetric v Amex, the Federal Circuit ruled, perhaps unsurprisingly, that the following claim language did not encompass the use of contactless smart cards (such as RFID cards):

“insertion of said data card into said data card reader” (emphasis added).

Smartmetric argued that insertion…into covered “a card being ‘passed near’ a card reader,” but to no avail. 

Who knew that things could sometimes be so clear (especially in patent law)?