Appeal No. 1998-3006 Page 3
Application No. 08/586,977
BACKGROUND
The appellants' invention relates to a device for
"weighing" (i.e., heaving up) ropes or lines such as those
attached to anchors. A copy of claims 1 and 9 appears in the
appendix to the appellants' brief.
The prior art reference of record relied upon by the
examiner in rejecting the appealed claims is:
Haines 3,635,441 Jan. 18,
1972
Claims 1 to 7 and 9 to 11 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C.
§ 112, second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to
particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter
which the appellants regard as the invention.3
3In the final rejection, claims 1 to 7 and 9 to 11 were
rejected on this basis. In the answer (Paper No. 18, mailed
March 17, 1998), only claims 1 to 3, 5, 6 and 9 to 11 were
rejected on this basis. Since the examiner (answer, p. 4)
found one ground of indefiniteness in each of the independent
claims on appeal (i.e., claims 1 and 9) and the appellants
responded to each ground of indefiniteness on pages 6-8 of the
brief (Paper No. 17, filed August 19, 1997), we consider it
appropriate to treat claims 1 to 7 and 9 to 11 as being
(continued...)
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