Appeal No. 2001-0342 Page 6
Application No. 08/677,707
original description must come to comply with the description
requirement of section 112 must be determined on a
case-by-case basis." Eiselstein v. Frank, 52 F.3d 1035, 1039,
34 USPQ2d 1467, 1470 (Fed. Cir. 1995) (quoting Vas-Cath, 935
F.2d at 1561, 19 USPQ2d at 1116).
It is our determination that the originally filed
disclosure does not provide written description support for
the subject matter of claims 11 and 14 to 20. The originally
filed application (p. 9, lines 7-10) states that
[p]lunger 10 may include a one-way flap valve or the
like (not shown) in handle 14 to provide easy escape of
air from bellows 20 during compression of bellows 20 or
can depend on the special configuration of rim 30 for
such air escape.
From this disclosure and the appellant's use of the word "or"
in the above-quoted sentence, it is our determination that
persons of ordinary skill in the art would recognize the
originally filed application as disclosing two separate and
distinct embodiments of the drain plunger 10. The first
embodiment is where the drain plunger 10 includes a one-way
flap valve or the like in handle 14 to provide easy escape of
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