Appeal No. 97-3290
Application 08/465,896
of “odor specialists”. Appellant argues (brief, page 4) that,
while acknowledged in the specification (page 12) that odor
perception is, by nature, a very subjective determination, it
is a mischaracterization to infer that the Surface-Active
Agent Effectiveness Test is also subjective. We disagree.
Since the subjective perceptions of selected “odor
specialists” would clearly control determinations made
according to the test, we believe it fair to say to that the
test is subjective. This panel of the board is aware of
appellant’s statement (brief, page 4) that many tests relying
on perceptions are routinely employed in other industries.
However, we fail to comprehend how the indefiniteness
discussed above relative to appellant’s claimed test is
somehow diminished by a broad reference to perceptive testing
in other industries.
In summary, this panel of the board has:
affirmed the rejection of claims 21 through 35 under
35 U.S.C. § 112, first paragraph, as being based upon a
specification which fails to enable the breadth of the claims;
13
Page: Previous 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007