Ex parte REESE - Page 2




          Appeal No. 1999-1612                                                        
          Application 08/614,188                                                      


          54 under     35 U.S.C. § 112, first paragraph, for failing to               
          provide an adequate written description and enabling                        
          disclosure of the claimed invention.  Appellant challenges our              
          affirmation of the rejection of claim 54 under 35 U.S.C. §                  
          112.                                                                        
               As noted by our reviewing court in Enzo v. Calgene, 188                
          F.3d 1362, 1371, 52 USPQ2d 1129, 1135, we have held that a                  
          patent specification complies with the statute even if a                    
          "reasonable" amount of routine experimentation is required in               
          order to practice a claimed invention, but that such                        
          experimentation must not be "undue."  See, e.g., In re Wands,               
          858 F.2d 731, 736-37,  8 USPQ2d 1400, 1404 ("Enablement is not              
          precluded by the necessity for some experimentation . . . .                 
          However, experimentation needed to practice the invention must              
          not be undue experimentation.  The key word is 'undue,' not                 
          'experimentation'.")(footnotes, citations, and internal                     
          quotation marks omitted).  In Wands, we set forth a number of               
          factors which a court may consider in determining whether a                 
          disclosure would require undue experimentation.  These factors              
          were set forth as follows: (1) the quantity of experimentation              


                                          2                                           





Page:  Previous  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  Next 

Last modified: November 3, 2007