Appeal No. 1996-0288 Page 3
Application No. 07/873,634
(Paper No. 19). In arguing their position in this appeal at pages 4-5 of the Appeal Brief,
appellants assert that "non-prereduced" is "a term well known in the art of sterile culture
media systems" and that the term is defined on page 5 [sic, 6], lines 12-16 of the
specification. That passage of the specification states:
In the method of making a package system to provide stability and
increased shelf life, the culture dishes may be filled with medium in an
aerobic atmosphere, that is, without the necessity for providing an
anaerobic atmosphere.
In other words, the term "non-prereduced" means that the culture media
container of the claimed culture media system contains a culture media that was
formed in an aerobic atmosphere, not an anaerobic atmosphere.
2. Claim definiteness.
The examiner states at page 3 of the Examiner's Answer that the phrase "non-
prereduced" is "unclear in that it is unclear how, in this instance, the method of making
limits the structure and it is unclear what redox condition of the medium is intended."
As set forth above, the specification makes clear that the culture media which is part of
the claimed culture media system was provided to the culture media container in an
aerobic, rather than anaerobic atmosphere. With this distinction in mind, one of
ordinary skill in the art would be able to discern the difference between a culture media
container filled with culture media under aerobic conditions and a culture media
container filled with culture media under anaerobic conditions. In other words, a culture
media system which in other respects meets the requirements of claim 27 on appeal
but contains a culture media container filled with culture media under anaerobic
conditions would not meet the requirements of claim 27.
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