Wednesday October 13, 2010

REVERSED

1600 Biotechnology and Organic Chemistry
Ex Parte Knapp 11/598,903 GRIMES 103(a) MAYER & WILLIAMS PC EXAMINER CHANNAVAJJALA, LAKSHMI SARADA

Ex Parte Mauritz 11/211,846 GREEN 103(a) ROCHE DIAGNOSTICS OPERATIONS INC. EXAMINER CROW, ROBERT THOMAS

Ex Parte Wang et al 11/008,929 FREDMAN 103(a) BACON & THOMAS, PLLC EXAMINER POPA, ILEANA

2600 Communications
Ex Parte Shen et al 10/185,905 MacDONALD 103(a) DLA PIPER LLP (US) EXAMINER YENKE, BRIAN P

Ex Parte Anastas 10/924,674 MacDONALD 102(b)/103(a) KILPATRICK STOCKTON LLP EXAMINER WALTHALL, ALLISON N

Ex Parte Luciano et al 10/932,867 MacDONALD 102(e) Lexmark International, Inc. EXAMINER GARCIA, GABRIEL I

2800 Semiconductors, Electrical and Optical Systems and Components
Ex Parte Vedders 10/770,964 MacDONALD 103(a) BAKER BOTTS L.L.P. EXAMINER LUKS, JEREMY AUSTIN

3700 Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing, and Products & Design
Ex Parte Cohen et al 11/084,317 McCARTHY 102(b) KIMBERLY-CLARK WORLDWIDE, INC. TARA POHLKOTTE EXAMINER STEPHENS, JACQUELINE F

Ex Parte Lee 11/120,906 O’NEILL 103(a) SHAY GLENN LLP EXAMINER CARPENTER, WILLIAM R

Ex Parte Pollock 11/258,494 BAHR 103(a) Davidson, Davidson & Kappel, LLC EXAMINER LOW, LINDSAY M

Ex Parte Ramalingam et al 11/001,714 NAPPI 103(a) INTEL/BSTZ BLAKELY SOKOLOFF TAYLOR & ZAFMAN LLP EXAMINER PHAN, THIEM D

see also In re Sebek, 465 F.2d 904, 907 (CCPA 1972) (“Where . . . the prior art disclosure suggests the outer limits of the range of suitable values, and that the optimum resides within that range, and where there are indications elsewhere that in fact the optimum should be sought within that range, the determination of optimum values outside that range may not be obvious.”).

Ex Parte Stadelhofer 10/848,517 HORNER 102(b)/103(a) FLYNN THIEL BOUTELL & TANIS, P.C. EXAMINER WITCZAK, CATHERINE

AFFIRMED-IN-PART

2100 Computer Architecture and Software
Ex Parte Achacoso et al 10/375,358 HOMERE 112(1)/102(b) NIXON & VANDERHYE, PC EXAMINER HAILU, TADESSE

2400 Networking, Mulitplexing, Cable, and Security
Ex Parte Ma 10/461,012 BLANKENSHIP 101/103(a)/102(e) 37 C.F.R. § 41.50(b) CHRISTOPHER C. WINSLADE MCANDREWS HELD AND MALLOY, LTD. EXAMINER WILLIAMS, JEFFERY L

REEXAMINATION

3900 Central Reexamination Unit (CRU) Original Art Unit 2722
Ex parte RESEARCH CORPORATION TECHNOLOGIES, INC. 90/007,187 5,726,772 TORCZON Ipsis verbis test/Omitted element test For the patentee, Michael Greenbaum, BLANK ROME LLP For the requester, John D. Vandenberg, KLARQUIST SPARKMAN LLP EXAMINER KIELIN, ERIK J original EXAMINER LEE, CHEUKFAN

The "omitted element" test, sometimes called the "essential element" test has been broadly criticized. It is instructive that one of the most widely vilified decisions in this context, Gentry Gallery, Inc. v. Berkline Corp., which affirmed an invalidity based on the absence of a key element, has never been overturned. How can this apparent paradox be explained? The key lies in the caution repeated in our decision: written description determinations are so fact-specific that it is hazardous to read too much into any precedent. The Gentry Gallery court had to determine whether a finding that the specification as a whole conveyed a requirement for a specific element was clearly erroneous. In determining it was not, the court expressly rejected an over-reading of its holding:

It is a truism that a claim need not be limited to a preferred embodiment. However, in a given case, the scope of the right to exclude may be limited by a narrow disclosure.

Critics of Gentry Gallery have often converted the decision into a straw-man for criticism. Any opinion when so caricatured can be made to seem foolish. When the opinion is read narrowly, in light of the specific facts of the case, as the court intended, it remains a viable (albeit limited) opinion.

Gentry Gallery, Inc. v. Berkline Corp., 134 F.3d 1473, 45 USPQ2d 1498(Fed. Cir. 1998) . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . 2163, 2163.05

AFFIRMED

Ex Parte Beck EXAMINER NGUYEN, XUAN LAN T
Ex Parte Faltesek et al EXAMINER LEE, PING
Ex Parte Feiste et al EXAMINER HUISMAN, DAVID J
Ex Parte von Foerster EXAMINER LARSON, JUSTIN MATTHEW
Ex Parte Kakiuchi et al EXAMINER ANGEBRANNDT, MARTIN J
Ex Parte Kamimura et al EXAMINER JULES, FRANTZ F
Ex Parte Liu et al EXAMINER David England
Ex Parte Londono EXAMINER BELLO, AGUSTIN
Ex Parte Palmer EXAMINER LABBEES, EDNY
Ex Parte Seymour et al EXAMINER CORDRAY, DENNIS R