Appeal No. 97-2973
Application 08/316,147
consideration and appropriate treatment upon return of the
application to the examiner:
I. Whether the subject matter recited in independent claims
7 and 12 and the claims depending therefrom is unpatentable
over Dansi.
II. Whether claim 12 and the claims depending therefrom are
indefinite due to the reference in claim 12 to the “continuous
gap,” a term which is defined in the underlying specification
(see pages 5 through 8) in a somewhat ambiguous and
contradictory manner.
III. Whether claim 16 and claim 17 which depends therefrom are
indefinite due to the Markush group recitation in claim 16 of
a “material selected from a group consisting of filament wound
fibers and resin systems” when such recitation is considered
in light of the specification (page 8) which indicates that
the material can be constructed of filament wound fibers and
resin systems. 3
In summary and for the above reasons, the decision of the
3As pointed out in MPEP § 2173.05(h), the elements in a
Markush group are alternatives.
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