Appeal No. 2001-2559
Application No. 09/276,722
The Invention
Appellants’ invention pertains to a fishing net “made of
acoustically visible material to cetaceans, thereby preventing
the incidental capture of cetaceans in the netting”
(specification, page 1). As explained in the specification (page
4):
The inventors have discovered materials which,
when incorporated into a monofilament, render the
monofilament more acoustically reflective at
frequencies used by cetaceans, at least in the 40-230
kHz range. By making the entire net more reflective,
the net becomes more visible to cetaceans.
Representative appealed claim 13, a copy of which appears in
the appendix to appellants’ brief, is directed to a fishing net
made of an acoustically reflective monofilament comprising a
polymeric matrix, wherein the polymeric matrix is either (1) a
thermoplastic resin selected from the group consisting
essentially of nylon 6 or nylon 66, and a filler selected from
the group consisting essentially of zinc, barium sulfate and iron
oxide, or (2) a thermoplastic resin selected from the group
consisting essentially of a polyolefin, and a filler selected
from the group consisting essentially of zinc and iron oxide.1
1The term “iron oxide,” which was added to claims 13, 18
and 21 by amendment, does not appear in the specification. In
order to bring the specification into compliance with 37 CFR
2
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