Appeal No. 2000-0588 Page 19
Application No. 08/824,110
particularly point out and distinctly claim the invention as
required by the second paragraph of section 112.
Consistent with appellants’ underlying disclosure (specification, page 4, lines 16-17,
page 5, lines 9-10 and page 9, lines 5-7), we understand the recited “attention signal” to
be a signal, such as a ring, beep or vibration, generated by the display 16 (visual
display 18, vibrator 22 or speaker 20 in the toy pager or ringer 46 of the toy telephone)
in response to the first trigger signal to attract the user’s attention and prompt the user
to take action to receive a message. The message selector, as disclosed in appellants’
specification, selects a message in response to the second random number generated
by the random number generator 68 and displays that selected message in response to
the generation of a first trigger signal by the comparator 78 and the generation of a
second trigger signal by actuation of a switch 36 or 48, said second trigger signal also
stopping the attention signal. Appellants’ underlying disclosure reveals no means or
step for selecting said message in response to said attention signal, as recited in claims
19, 20 and 22. Accordingly, it is impossible to ascertain what structure or step
disclosed in appellants’ specification corresponds to the recited means or step for
“selecting said message in response to said attention signal” as set forth in the sixth
paragraph of 35 U.S.C. § 112. Therefore, with regard to claims 19, 20 and 22,
appellants have failed to particularly point out and distinctly claim the invention as
required by the second paragraph of section 112.
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