Ex parte GRAY et al. - Page 5




          Appeal No. 98-0457                                                          
          Application 08/604,813                                                      


          bag.  On page 1 of the specification, appellants disclose that              
               [s]emiconductor wafers such as those used in various                   
               electronics applications may be damaged if contacted                   
               by moisture because water chemically attacks                           
               semiconductor materials.  To inhibit moisture                          
               contact, semiconductor wafers are usually stored and                   
               transported in some type of moisture barrier.                          
          On page 2 of the specification, appellants further disclose                 
          that                                                                        
               [t]he moisture barrier material has a moisture                         
               transmission rate which is sufficiently small to                       
               permit storage of semiconductor wafers within the                      
               volume for an extended period of time without                          
               damaging the wafers by moisture attack.                                



          In addition, appellants’ specification on page 5 gives                      
          preferred moisture transmission rates for the opaque and                    
          transparent materials used to make the bag.                                 
               In light of the guidance provided by these disclosures,                
          we are convinced that one of ordinary skill in the art would                
          have no trouble understanding the metes and bounds of                       
          appellants’ claims when read in light of the specification.                 
          While appellants’ claim language is broad in not stating a                  
          precise value for the moisture transmission rate of the                     
          material of the bag, here that breadth does not make the claim              
                                         -5-                                          





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