Appeal No. 99-0629 Page 6
Application No. 08/778,059
forth in the specification an adequate disclosure showing what
is meant by that language. If an applicant fails to set forth
an adequate disclosure, the applicant has in effect failed to
particularly point out and distinctly claim the invention as
required by the second paragraph of section 112.
A means-plus-function claim limitation satisfies the
second paragraph of section 112 if: (1) the written
description links or associates particular structure,
materials or acts to the function recited in a means-plus-
function claim limitation or (2) it is clear based on the
facts of the application that one skilled in the art would
have known what structure, materials, or acts perform the
function recited in the means-plus-function limitation. See
In re Dossel, 115 F.3d 942, 946, 42 USPQ2d 1881, 1885 (Fed.
Cir. 1997).
In this case, the appellant's specification describes
five projectile reception chambers (24, 26, 28, 30, 32)
adapted to receive projectiles (34). The specification
describes each of the chambers as follows:
As shown, chamber 32 includes a first narrow
portion 50 which has a diameter slightly larger than
the diameter of the body 51 of dart 34. In this
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