Appeal No. 98-3292
Application 08/611,848
the language of the claims on appeal regarding the sets of
keys and their association with the first and second planes,
we are compelled to enter a new ground of rejection, infra,
under 35 U.S.C. § 112, second paragraph.
While we would not normally review the examiner’s prior
art rejections in a case such as this, where we have
determined that the claim language renders the claims on
appeal indefinite, we have decided, in the interests of
judicial economy and fairness to appellants, to consider the
prior art rejections applied by the examiner in this case. We
do so based on our understanding of appellants’ arguments and
specification, and as a result of their impact on the
significance of the claim terminology “integrally formed on
one contiguous keypad,” which is found in each of the claims
on appeal.
In the rejection of claims 1 through 4 and 18 through 20
under 35 U.S.C. § 102(e) as being anticipated by Grant, the
examiner has taken the position, with respect to claim 1, that
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