Appeal No. 1999-0944
Application No. 08/890,252
The purpose of the requirement stated in the second
paragraph of 35 U.S.C. § 112 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).
In the present case, appellants seek to change by reissue
the wording of apparatus claims 1-4 at several places from an
apparatus for inserting the leading-edge sheath onto the blade
subassembly to an apparatus for inserting the leading-edge
sheath in combination with the blade subassembly. Because7
the commonly
accepted dictionary definitions of the words “inserting” and
(...continued)6
language also passes muster under the second paragraph of 35 U.S.C. § 112.
The specific claim language is located at claim 1, lines 19-20; claim7
1, lines 26-28; claim 2, lines 2-3; and claim 3, lines 16-17.
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