Appeal No. 96-4137
Application 08/260,674
is to provide those who would endeavor, in future enterprise,
to approach the area circumscribed by the claims of a patent,
with the adequate notice demanded by due process of law, so
that they may more readily and accurately determine the
boundaries of protection involved and evaluate the possibility
of infringement and dominance. In re Hammack, 427 F.2d 1378,
1382, 166 USPQ 204, 208 (CCPA 1970). The inquiry as stated in
In re Moore, 439 F.2d 1232, 1235, 169 USPQ 236, 238 (CCPA
1971) is;
... whether the claims do, in fact, set out
and circumscribe a particular area with a
reasonable degree of precision and
particularity. ... [t]he definiteness of
the language employed must be analyzed-not
in a vacuum, but always in light of the
teachings of the prior art and of the
particular application disclosure as it
would be interpreted by one possessing the
ordinary level of skill in the pertinent
art.
The appellant’s disclosure indicates that certain
calculations have been done to establish an average radius of
curvature, an average lumbar support distance, an average
lumbar support width and an average lumbar support center
spacing. These calculations depend on the average size of a
child. Appellant argues that the average size of a child
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