Appeal No. 98-0457
Application 08/604,813
transmission rate which is sufficiently small’ is vague and
indefinite because it has no clear meaning” (answer, page 4).
The purpose of the requirement stated in the second
paragraph of 35 U.S.C. § 112 is to provide those who would
endeavor, in future enterprise, to approach the area
circumscribed by the claims in a patent, with the adequate
notice demanded by due process of law, so that they may more
readily and accurately determine the boundaries of protection
involved and evaluate the possibility of infringement and
dominance. In re Hammack, 427 F.2d 1378, 1382, 166 USPQ 204,
208 (CCPA 1970). Definiteness problems often arise when words
of degree are used in a claim. In such cases, it must be
decided whether one of ordinary skill in the art would
understand what is claimed when the claim is read in light of
the specification. See Seattle Box Co., Inc. v. Industrial
Crating & Packing, Inc., 731 F.2d 818, 826, 221 USPQ 568, 573-
74 (Fed. Cir. 1984).
The examiner’s asserted reason for indefiniteness
pertains to the term of degree “sufficiently small” used to
define the moisture transmission rate of the material of the
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