Ex parte FIORDALICE et al. - Page 6




          Appeal No. 1998-0178                                                        
          Application No. 08/254,854                                                  


          of whether the scope of claim 24 is clear.  The examiner seems              
          to understand exactly what is claimed in claim 24, but simply               
          objects to the form of the claim.  It is sometimes possible to              
          describe things most accurately and succinctly by what they                 
          are not.  We agree with appellants that the artisan having                  
          considered the specification of this application would have no              
          difficulty ascertaining the scope of the invention recited in               
          claims 24 and 26-30.  Therefore, the rejection of claims 24                 
          and 26-30 under the second paragraph of 35 U.S.C. § 112 is not              
          sustained.                                                                  
          We now consider the rejection of claims 24 and 26-30                        
          under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a) as anticipated by the disclosure of                
          Fujii.  Anticipation is established only when a single prior                
          art reference discloses, expressly or under the principles of               
          inherency, each and every element of a claimed invention as                 
          well as disclosing structure which is capable of performing                 
          the recited functional limitations.  RCA Corp. v. Applied                   
          Digital Data Systems, Inc., 730 F.2d 1440, 1444, 221 USPQ 385,              
          388                                                                         
          (Fed. Cir.); cert. dismissed, 468 U.S. 1228 (1984);                         


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