Appeal No. 1999-1460
Application No. 08/070,859
1. A method of reversible thermosensitive coloring
recording by selective manifestation of different states of
a functional element which consists essentially of two
compounds and is capable of alternatively assuming (a) a
first state in which said two compounds interact to form a
regular aggregate structure, or (b) a second state in which
said two compounds do not interact, and at least one of said
two compounds is in an aggregate or crystallized state, by
heating and cooling said functional element to obtain one of
said two states, wherein at least one of said two compounds
has a long hydrocarbon chain structure, and said second
state is attained by the aggregation force of said long
hydrocarbon chain structure.
All of the claims on appeal stand finally rejected under the
first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. § 112 as being based upon a
specification disclosure which would not enable one skilled in
the art to make and/or use the here-claimed invention. According
to the examiner, “[t]he specification is non-enabling for [the
appealed] claims which utilize the language ‘regular aggregate
structure’ because this phrase does not have a well defined scope
and meaning in the art and is not defined within the
specification” (answer, page 3).
The claims on appeal also stand finally rejected under the
second paragraph of 35 U.S.C. § 112 for failing to particularly
point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the
appellants’ regard as their invention. The examiner considers
the appealed claims to offend the second paragraph of Section 112
because “[t]he phrase ‘regular aggregate structure’ is indefinite
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