Appeal No. 97-1366
Application No. 08/281,318
and of the particular application disclosure as it would be
interpreted by one possessing an ordinary level of skill in
the pertinent art. In re Moore, 439 F.2d 1232, 1235, 169 USPQ
236, 238 (CCPA 1971). Claims are considered to be definite,
as required by the second paragraph of 35 U.S.C. § 112, when
they define the metes and bounds of a claimed invention with a
reasonable degree of precision and particularity. See In re
Venezia, 530 F.2d 956, 958, 189 USPQ 149, 151 (CCPA 1976).
In our opinion, the recitation that the press catch
connector permits rotation of the discharge tube relative to
the outer flange without raising or lowering the discharge
tube relative to the outer flange, when read in light of
appellant's specification and drawings, would have apprised a
person skilled in the art of the scope of the claims. It is
also clear to us that the floor referred to in the body of the
claims is the same
floor mentioned in the preamble. Since the examiner has not
presented any reason why a person having ordinary skill in the
art would not understand the scope and meaning of claims 1 and
6
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