Appeal No. 96-0676
Application 07/963,165
formula RCO-, but also has been defined more broadly as3
including any radical, such as RSO -, which is formed from an
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organic acid by the removal of the hydroxyl group.4
Regardless of which definition of acyl is used, the examiner
has the burden of explaining why, when interpreted by one of
ordinary skill in the art in light of appellants’
specification and the prior art, the term would cause
appellants’ claims to fail to set out and circumscribe a
particular area with a reasonable degree of precision and
particularity. The examiner’s assertion that appellants’
claims must be limited to the types of radicals disclosed in
the specification is not such an explanation.
The examiner argues that “aryl” is indefinite because it
is not clear whether it includes heterocyclic aromatic
3The Condensed Chemical Dictionary 19 (Van Nostrand
Reinhold, 10th ed. 1981); McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific
and Technical Terms 25 (McGraw-Hill, 2d ed. 1978).
4Hackh’s Chemical Dictionary 18 (McGraw-Hill, 3d ed.
1944).
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