Appeal No. 96-1883
Application 08/078,380
through opening 22 into the space between working surface 16 and
the bottom surface of the article being conveyed.
We therefore will not sustain the rejection under 35 U.S.C.
§ 112, first paragraph.
All of the claims also stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 112,
second paragraph, as being indefinite. Here, the examiner's
position is that the terms angular, non-linear and stepped
appear to contradict one another, in that a stepped
path is clearly linear, comprising a plurality of
usually rectilinear lines serially connected at usually
approximately right angles (Answer, sentence bridging
pages 5 and 6).
The comments we made above regarding these terms when discussing
the rejection under the first paragraph of Section 112 also are
relevant here. The purpose of 35 U.S.C. § 112, second paragraph,
is to insure that the public is apprised of exactly what the
patent covers, so that those who would approach the area
circumscribed by the claims of a patent may more readily and
accurately determine the boundaries of protection involved and
evaluate the possibility of infringement and dominance. See In
re Hammack, 427 F.2d 1378, 1382, 166 USPQ 204, 208 (CCPA 1970).
It is our view that the claims of the present application comply
with this requirement, and therefore we will not sustain the
rejection under the second paragraph of 35 U.S.C. § 112.
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