Appeal No. 2001-1466
Application 09/055,899
MPEP § 821 recently was amended (MPEP Eighth Edition,
August 2001) to eliminate the directive instructing examiners
to enter a
35 U.S.C. § 112, second paragraph, rejection in the event of a
disagreement with an applicant as to whether claims read on
elected subject matter. Moreover, even if it is assumed for
the sake of argument that claims 12 through 17 do not read on
the elected Figure 3 species, the examiner has not explained,
nor is it apparent, why this circumstance alone would render
the metes and bounds of these claims unclear.
Since the examiner has not advanced any other reason why
claims 12 through 17 might be indefinite, we shall not sustain
the standing 35 U.S.C. § 112, second paragraph, rejection
thereof.
III. The 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) rejection of claims 1 through 3, 5
through 11, 25, 26, 33 and 37 through 41
Schultz, the examiner’s primary reference, discloses a
container for dispensing liquid products such as shoe polish,
household cleaners, coatings, solvents and the like. The
container includes a sponge-like applicator which is
specifically designed not to become fully saturated during use
7
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007