Appeal 2007-2235
Application 10/138,617
1555, 1563, 19 USPQ2d 1111, 1117 (Fed. Cir. 1991). However, “claimed
subject matter need not be described in haec verba in the specification in
order for that specification to satisfy the description requirement.” In re
Wright, 866 F.2d 422, 425, 9 USPQ2d 1649, 1651 (Fed. Cir. 1989).
We agree with the Examiner that the Specification does not disclose,
word-for-word, measuring oxygen consumption. However, the
Specification discloses that the heat generated by the landfill’s oxidative
processes “is most practically removed by adding . . . supplemental water or
aqueous liquid” (Specification 12, ¶ [44]). The Specification then discloses
that the heat generated by the landfill causes the landfill to lose, by
evaporation, “between 60 and 200 grams [of water] per gram-atom of
oxygen consumed. . . . The injection of gases and injection or presence of
water in the landfill is preferably at a level such as to achieve a temperature
of from about 70° to about 180° F . . . in the landfill cell” (id. at ¶ [45],
emphasis added).
Thus, the Specification discloses that water must be added to dissipate
heat generated by the landfill bioreactor system. The Specification also
discloses that oxygen consumption is a measure of how much water
evaporates from the system, and is therefore also a measure of how much
water must be added to the system to maintain a suitable temperature. To
follow the Specification’s direction and use oxygen consumption as a
measure of how much water to add, one must necessarily measure oxygen
consumption.
Given these facts, we do not agree with the Examiner that the
Specification failed to convey to one of ordinary skill that Appellant
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