Appeal No. 1999-0621
Application 08/378,376
The second paragraph of 35 U.S.C. § 112 requires claims
to set out and circumscribe a particular area with a
reasonable degree of precision and particularity. In re
Johnson, 558 F.2d 1008, 1015, 194 USPQ 187, 193 (CCPA 1977).
In determining whether this requirement is met, the
definiteness of the language employed in the claims must be
analyzed, not in a vacuum, but always in light of the
teachings of the prior art and of the particular application
disclosure as it would be interpreted by one possessing the
ordinary level of skill in the pertinent art. Id. The
purpose of the requirement is to provide those who would
endeavor, in future enterprise, to approach the area
circumscribed by the claims of a patent with the adequate
notice demanded by due process of law, so that they may more
readily and accurately determine the boundaries of protection
involved and evaluate the possibility of infringement and
dominance. In re Hammack, 427 F.2d 1378, 1382, 166 USPQ 204,
208 (CCPA 1970).
The appellants’ specification (see page 5) indicates that
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