Appeal No. 97-2888
Application 08/389,077
(Bd. App. 1984). In other instances, however, it may be
impossible to determine whether or not claimed subject matter
is anticipated by or would have been
obvious over references because the claims are so indefinite
that considerable speculation and assumptions would be
required
regarding the meaning of terms employed in the claims with
respect to the scope of the claims. See In re Steele, 305
F.2d 859, 862, 134 USPQ 292, 295 (CCPA 1962).
For the reason discussed above, we consider the
appellant's claims 1, 6, 8, 16, 17, 21, 34, 41, 42 and 61-64
to be sufficiently indefinite that application of the
references applied by the examiner in rejecting the claims
under 35 U.S.C. § 103 is not possible. On this basis, we
will not sustain the rejections of claims 1, 6, 8, 16, 17, 21,
34, 41, 42 and 61-64 under 35 U.S.C. § 103. It should be
understood that this reversal is not a reversal on the merits
of the rejections, but rather is a procedural reversal
predicated upon the indefiniteness of the claims.
10
Page: Previous 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007