Appeal No. 2004-1456 Page 4
Application No. 09/624,151
a radiator-condenser which receives the compressed
fluid medium from the compressor and radiates the heat
from the spacecraft through said radiator-condenser and
said at least one solar loaded surface.
The written description rejection
The examiner alleges that the application as originally filed fails to provide
support for the limitation in claim 24 that the compressor raises the temperature of the
evaporated fluid medium to a second operating temperature which is greater than the
temperature of the at least one solar loaded surface. The examiner is correct that
appellants’ specification does not expressly disclose that the compressor raises the
temperature of the evaporated fluid medium to a temperature which is greater than the
temperature of the at least one solar loaded surface. The test for determining
compliance with the written description requirement, however, is whether the disclosure
of the application as originally filed reasonably conveys to the artisan that the inventor
had possession at that time of the later claimed subject matter, rather than the presence
or absence of literal support in the specification for the claim language. See Vas-Cath,
Inc. v. Mahurkar, 935 F.2d 1555, 1563-64, 19 USPQ2d 1111, 1116-17 (Fed. Cir. 1991)
and In re Kaslow, 707 F.2d 1366, 1375, 217 USPQ 1089, 1096 (Fed. Cir. 1983).
In this instance, appellants’ specification informs us on page 2 that:
Currently used state-of-the-art spacecraft radiator systems
have the radiator temperature either the same or lower than
the payload or source temperature. In contrast, the heat
pump system employed in the present invention allows the
temperature of the radiator-condenser to be elevated,
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