Appeal No. 2001-0294
Application No. 09/004,399
specification starting at line 22 of page 9 (brief, page 5).
Appellants further assert that the term “clock pulses” is clear
because it has no hidden or unusual meanings and can be
ascertained by a dictionary definition (id.). Additionally,
Appellants point to the paragraph bridging pages 11 and 12 of the
specification to show how clock pulses are used to activate the
tach braking circuit to brake the motor when its velocity is
detected to be slow enough (reply brief, page 3 and oral
hearing).
The Examiner’s arguments are focused on the use of “clock
pulses” as reference pulses rather than signals used to activate
braking of the motor (answer, page 5). The Examiner further
argues that the clock pulses do not correspond to any structural
elements that are provided for braking the motor (id.).
Analysis of a rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 112, second
paragraph, should begin with the determination of whether claims
set out and circumscribe the particular area with a reasonable
degree of precision and particularity; it is here where
definiteness of the language must be analyzed, not in a vacuum,
but always in light of teachings of the disclosure as it would be
interpreted by one possessing ordinary skill in the art. In re
Johnson, 558 F.2d 1008, 1015, 194 USPQ 187, 193 (CCPA 1977),
4
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