Appeal No. 2000-0484
Application No. 08/677,401
for making a rectangular chamber, particularly since it
appears that, unlike appellants' chamber, the interior or
Koch's chamber must be rectangular to accommodate the
apparatus therein. Claims 31 and 34 additionally call for a
top plate which has a stepped lip. At page 5 of the answer,
the examiner cites Hauer et al. (Patent No. 3,274,671) as
evidence of the obviousness of this feature, but this
reference will not be considered by us since it was not
positively included in the statement of the rejection. Ex
parte Raske, 28 USPQ2d 1304, 1305 (Bd. Pat. App. & Int. 1993).
Accordingly, the rejection of claims 1, 3 to 17, 21 and
23 to 34 will not be sustained.
Rejection Pursuant to 37 CFR § 1.196(b)
(1) Claims 1 and 3 to 17 are rejected for failure to comply
with 35 U.S.C. § 112, second paragraph. In lines 18 and 19 of
claim 1 it is recited that a second o-ring seal is applied
"around a parameter of the chamber housing top surface." It
is not apparent what is meant by the term "a parameter" in
this context, rendering the scope of claim 1 indefinite.
(2) Claims 21, 23, 24 and 26 to 34 are rejected for failing to
comply with the written description requirement of the first
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