Ex Parte Taylor - Page 9



              Appeal 2007-1594                                                                                             
              Application 10/600,379                                                                                       


                                    REJECTION UNDER 37 C.F.R. §  41.50(b)                                                  
                     All words in a claim must be considered in judging the patentability of that                          
              claim against the prior art.  If no reasonably definite meaning can be ascribed to                           
              certain terms in the claim, the subject matter does not become obvious--the claim                            
              becomes indefinite. In re Wilson, 424 F.2d 1382, 1385, 165 USPQ 494, 496                                     
              (CCPA 1970). Our analysis of the claims indicates that considerable speculation as                           
              to meaning of the terms employed and assumptions as to the scope of such claims                              
              needs to be made. A rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 should not be based on such                                
              speculations and assumptions. In re Steele, 305 F.2d 859, 862, 134 USPQ 292, 295                             
              (CCPA 1962); Ex parte Head, 214 USPQ 551 (BdPatApp&Int 1981).                                                
              Accordingly, we reverse the 35 U.S.C. ' 103 rejection of claims 20-22 and enter                              
              the rejection noted hereinbelow. It must be noted, however, that this is a technical                         
              reversal, based on the indefiniteness of the subject matter, and is not to be                                
              construed as a reversal based on the prior art cited by the examiner.                                        
              The art rejection of claims 20-22 is reversed and a rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 112,                         
              second paragraph, is hereby entered. Claims 20-22 includes elements, notably the                             
              tub, the plug, and the plug and the neck, respectively, which lack antecedent basis.                         
              This renders the claims indefinite.                                                                          







                                                            9                                                              



Page:  Previous  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  Next

Last modified: September 9, 2013