Ex parte POHNDORF - Page 5




          Appeal No. 2000-0323                                       Page 5           
          Application No. 08/608,920                                                  


               In reaching our decision in this appeal, we have given                 
          careful consideration to the appellant's specification and                  
          claims, to the applied prior art references, and to the                     
          respective positions articulated by the appellant and the                   
          examiner.  As a consequence of our review, we make the                      
          determinations which follow.                                                


          The written description rejection                                           
               We sustain the rejection of claims 15 to 20 under 35                   
          U.S.C. § 112, first paragraph.                                              


               The test for determining compliance with the written                   
          description requirement is whether the disclosure of the                    
          application as originally filed reasonably conveys to the                   
          artisan that the inventor had possession at that time of the                
          later claimed subject matter, rather than the presence or                   
          absence of literal support in the specification for the claim               
          language.  See Vas-Cath, Inc. v. Mahurkar, 935 F.2d 1555,                   
          1563-64, 19 USPQ2d 1111, 1116-17 (Fed. Cir. 1991) and In re                 
          Kaslow, 707 F.2d 1366, 1375, 217 USPQ 1089, 1096 (Fed. Cir.                 
          1983).                                                                      







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