Ex parte KIRKPATRICK - Page 5




          Appeal No. 1997-0440                                                        
          Application No. 08/582,237                                                  
          invention sought to be patented cannot be determined from the               
          language of the claims with a reasonable degree of certainty,               
          a rejection of the claims under 35 U.S.C. § 112, second                     
          paragraph, is appropriate.                                                  
               Thus, the failure to provide explicit antecedent basis                 
          for terms does not always render a claim indefinite.  As                    
          stated above, if the scope of a claim would be reasonably                   
          ascertainable                                                               
          by those skilled in the art, then the claim is not indefinite.              
          See Ex parte Porter, 25 USPQ2d 1144, 1146 (Bd. Pat. App. &                  
          Int. 1992).                                                                 
               Furthermore, Appellant may use functional language,                    
          alternative expressions, negative limitations, or any style of              
          expression or format of claim which makes clear the boundaries              
          of the subject matter for which protection is sought.  As                   
          noted by the court in In re Swinehart, 439 F.2d 210, 213, 169               
          USPQ 226, 229 (CCPA 1971), a claim may not be rejected solely               
          because of the type of language used to define the subject                  
          matter for which patent protection is sought.                               
               Rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 102                                        
               We note that a prior art reference anticipates the                     
          subject of a claim when the reference discloses every feature               
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