Appeal No. 2000-1557
Application 08/384,456
step including combination of the first and second demodulated
signals within or subsequent to the determination by the error
correction decoding process of the data most likely transmitted
[answer, page 3]. Appellants simply respond that the claimed
phrase is fully supported by the disclosure and original claim 6
[brief, page 6]. The examiner responds that the portion of the
disclosure relied on by appellants and original claim 6 are
totally silent about the phrase in question [answer, pages 10-
11].
We agree with the position argued by the examiner. The
rejection is based on the written description requirement of
35 U.S.C. § 112. The purpose of the written description
requirement is to ensure that the applicants convey with
reasonable clarity to those skilled in the art that they were in
possession of the invention as of the filing date of the
application. For the purposes of the written description
requirement, the invention is "whatever is now claimed."
Vas-cath, Inc. v. Mahurkar, 935 F.2d 1555, 1564, 19 USPQ2d 1111,
1117 (Fed. Cir. 1991). We have considered the record, and we
cannot find clear support for the recitation that the error
correcting step includes combination of said first and second
demodulated signals “within or subsequent to” the determination
5
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