Appeal No. 1997-0186
Application No. 08/314,568
as "a tetraalkyl silicate" (Specification, p. 3, line 21).4
In the next paragraph, the compound is described more broadly
as an "alkoxysilane" (Specification, p. 3, line 27), and in a
subsequent paragraph, the following definition is attached to
the term "alkoxy silane" (Specification, p. 5, lines 14-16):
The alkoxy silane is of the formula R Si(OR') with
n 4-n
n ranging, for example, from 0 to 3, where R and R'
are also alkyl (e.g., C to C alkyl). [Emphasis1 6
added.]
If "alkoxy silane" is broader than defined in claim 5,
what other "alkoxy silanes" are contemplated by appellants in
claim 1? One way to interpret claim 1 is to consider it
expansively, however, this raises a problem as to what is
covered by the claim, i.e., it becomes unclear what "alkoxy
silanes" are embraced in claim 1 other than the alkoxy silanes
recited by way of the formula in claim 5. Another way is to
4As discussed earlier, appellants explain the meaning of
the term "tetraalkyl silicate" as follows (Brief, p. 4):
The term "silicate", as used in Claim 3, would
suggest, to the person in the art, a silicon atom
carrying four oxygen substituents, and the
additional term "tetraalkyl" would indicate that
there are four alkyl groups in the molecule, one
alkyl group being on each of those four oxygen
atoms.
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