Appeal No. 1998-2854 Page 9
Application No. 08/500,278
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 112, fourth
paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to
further limit the subject matter of a previous claim.
35 U.S.C. § 112, fourth paragraph, states
Subject to the following paragraph, a claim in dependent
form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set
forth and then specify a further limitation of the
subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall
be construed to incorporate by reference all the
limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claim 8 depends on independent claim 1 and recites that
"the lower preselected pressure and the higher preselected
pressure are preselected to be the same." [Emphasis ours].
Independent claim 1 recites that the air pressure regulator is
capable of automatically cycling the output air pressure
between "a lower preselected pressure and a higher preselected
pressure."
In our opinion, claim 8 is not a proper dependent claim
under the fourth paragraph of 35 U.S.C. § 112. A claim that
is not broader in any respect from its parent claim complies
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