Appeal No. 2002-1888
Application No. 09/185,493
Claims are considered to be definite, as required by the
second paragraph of 35 U.S.C. § 112, when they define the metes
and bounds of a claimed invention with a reasonable degree of
precision and particularity. See In re Venezia, 530 F.2d 956,
958 189 USPQ 149, 151 (CCPA 1976).
The examiner is of the view that claim 19 is indefinite due
to inconsistent recitations therein. In particular, the examiner
points out that, inconsistent with the claim preamble which
addresses a “plier type cutter tool” for sheathed cable, the body
of the claim positively requires structure of the cable (answer,
page 3). We fully appreciate the examiner’s position, but
disagree therewith for the reasons articulated below.
As we see it, the references in claim 19 to cable structure
are fairly considered and understood to relate to the indicated
intended use of the tool as an assist in defining specified
portions of the tool that coact with the cable during the
intended use. Thus, claim 19 is not indefinite.
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