Appeal No. 99-0622 Page 13
Application No. 08/637,717
under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Leach in view
of Brda and Dalmaso.
NEW GROUND OF REJECTION UNDER 37 CFR § 1.196(b)
Under the provisions of 37 CFR § 1.196(b), we make the
following new ground of rejection.
Claims 25 through 39 and 41 are 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 appellant regards as the invention.
In defining the "connecting means" as part of the safety
harness and further requiring that the "relatively weaker
juncture" and "relatively stronger juncture" be disposed
between a support structure and the harness, claim 25 is
misdescriptive of or inconsistent with the appellant's
disclosed invention. Cf. In re Cohn, 438 F.2d 989, 993, 169
USPQ 95, 98 (CCPA 1971). Specifically, the record as a whole
indicates that the "connecting means" of claim 25 corresponds
to the transfer straps (20, 28) and the positioning strap (22)
of the appellant's disclosure. If these straps are considered
part of the safety harness, as recited in claim 25, the only
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