Appeal No. 2002-0137
Application 09/069,765
I. Rejection of Claims 15-17 Under 37 CFR § 1.196(b).
We make the following new grounds of rejection using our
authority 37 CFR § 1.196(b).
Claims 15-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112, second
paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point
out and distinctly claim the subject matter which Appellants
regard as the invention.
The term “function” in claim 15 is used by the claim in a
way that does not correspond to any accepted meaning of the term.
The term is indefinite because the specification does not clearly
redefine the term. Where applicant acts as his or her own
lexicographer to specifically define a term of a claim contrary
to its ordinary meaning, the written description must clearly
redefine the claim term and set forth the uncommon definition so
as to put one reasonably skilled in the art on notice that the
applicant intended to so redefine that claim term. Process
Control Corp. v. HydReclaim Corp., 190 F.3d 1350, 1357, 52 USPQ2d
1029, 1033 (Fed. Cir. 1999).
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