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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Perhaps also cite ABS Global. ABS Global, Inc. v Cytonome/ST (Fed Cir 2023)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">From page 9 of the attached opinion:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><span lang="X-NONE" style="font-size:11.0pt">\u201cuse of \u2018a\u2019 or \u2018an\u2019 before a noun naming an object\u201d requires that the phrase be construed to mean \u201c\u2018one or more\u2019 unless the context sufficiently indicates otherwise.\u201d
<i>Lite-Netics, </i>60 F.4th at 1345; <i>see Salazar, </i>64 F.4th at 1315; <i>Convolve, Inc. v. Compaq Computer Corp.,
</i>812 F.3d 1313, 1321 (Fed. Cir. 2016); <i>Baldwin, </i>512 F.3d at 1342\u201343. The court has called this the \u201cgeneral rule,\u201d adding that an exception \u201conly arises where the language of the claims themselves, the specification, or the prosecution history necessitate
 a departure from the rule.\u201d <i>Baldwin, </i>512 F.3d at 1343.</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif;color:#0F172E">Scott&nbsp;C.&nbsp;Sample</span></b><b><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif;color:#0F172E"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri \(Body\)&quot;;color:gray">|</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri \(Body\)&quot;;color:gray"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri \(Body\)&quot;;color:gray">Partner</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri \(Body\)&quot;;color:gray"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.cm.law/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:1.0pt;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="130" height="50" style="width:1.3541in;height:.5208in" id="Picture_x0020_2096035244" src="cid:image001.png@01DC2ECE.12763670"></span></a><span style="font-size:1.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri \(Body\)&quot;;color:gray">&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri \(Body\)&quot;;color:gray"><a href="tel:469-444-1488" target="_blank"><span style="color:gray;text-decoration:none">469-444-1488</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri \(Body\)&quot;;color:gray">&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri \(Body\)&quot;;color:gray"><a href="mailto:ssample@cm.law" target="_blank"><span style="color:gray;text-decoration:none">ssample@cm.law</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri \(Body\)&quot;;color:gray"><a href="https://www.cm.law/cm-law-formerly-culhane-meadows-launches-second-decade-with-fresh-name-and-modern-brand/" target="_blank"><span style="color:#0F172E;text-decoration:none">Please&nbsp;note:&nbsp;Culhane&nbsp;Meadows&nbsp;is&nbsp;now&nbsp;CM&nbsp;Law</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif"> Patentpractice &lt;patentpractice-bounces@oppedahl-lists.com&gt;
<b>On Behalf Of </b>David Boundy via Patentpractice<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Friday, September 26, 2025 10:04 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> For patent practitioners. This is not for laypersons to seek legal advice. &lt;patentpractice@oppedahl-lists.com&gt;<br>
<b>Cc:</b> David Boundy &lt;DavidBoundyEsq@gmail.com&gt;<br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [Patentpractice] Article (&quot;a&quot; &quot;an&quot; or &quot;the&quot;) required before &quot;apparatus&quot; in a claim?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif;color:white">EXTERNAL EMAIL<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">The examiner is wrong.&nbsp; I often use either no article or multiple &quot;a&quot; when i've got a computer network invention, and there are multiple tasks.&nbsp; I do not want my claim to say that all steps must necessarily be performed on one and the same
 computer.&nbsp; I use these quotes from the MPEP regularly, and here's form language I use regularly.&nbsp; The question is whether there's some larger stakes to fight for, or whether the best response is to just roll for it.&nbsp; If it's the only amendment you;d make,
 then I would resist making the amendment, to make it harder for the next action to be final.<o:p></o:p></p>
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<b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif">2173.04&nbsp; Breadth Is Not Indefiniteness</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="gmail-double-dentquote" style="mso-margin-top-alt:3.0pt;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.5in">
<span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif">Breadth of a claim is not to be equated with indefi­niteness.
<i>In re Miller</i>, 441 F.2d 689, 169 USPQ 597 (CCPA 1971). If the scope of the subject matter embraced by the claims is clear, and if applicants have not otherwise indicated that they intend the invention to be of a scope different from that defined in the
 claims, then the claims comply with 35 U.S.C. §&nbsp;112, second paragraph.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif">2173.02 Clarity and Precision</span></b><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif">The examiner\u2019s focus during examination of claims for compliance with the requirement for definiteness of 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph, is whether the claim meets the threshold requirements
 of clarity and precision, not whether more suitable language or modes of expression are available. \u2026&nbsp; he or she should allow claims which define the patentable subject matter with a
<u>reasonable</u> degree of particularity and distinctness. <b>Some latitude in the manner of expression and the aptness of terms should be permitted even though the claim language is not as precise as the examiner might desire. Examiners \u2026 should not reject
 claims or insist on their own preferences</b> if other modes of expression selected by applicants satisfy the statutory requirement.</span><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:22.0pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In a case where pedantic conformance to \u201cantecedent basis\u201d was the only reason to question definiteness, the Federal Circuit squarely rejected \u201cantecedent
 basis\u201d as a controlling principle.&nbsp; The Federal Circuit made clear that indefiniteness turns on consideration of surrounding claim language, the specification, and the knowledge of those in the art, to identify substantive indefiniteness, not rules of form:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif">When the meaning of the claim would reasonably be understood by persons of ordinary skill when read in light of the specification, the claim is not subject to invalidity upon departure from
 the protocol of &quot;antecedent basis.&quot;&nbsp; <i>Energizer Holdings, Inc. v Int\u2019l Trade Comm\u2019n</i>, 435 F.3d 1366, 1370, 77 USPQ2d 1625, 1628 (Fed. Cir. 2006).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:22.0pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The MPEP teaches the same.&nbsp; MPEP §&nbsp;2173.05, by its terms, applies only to statutory indefiniteness, but gives valuable advice here.&nbsp; MPEP §&nbsp;2173.05(e)
 instructs that mere lack of antecedent basis \u201cdoes not always render a claim indefinite.\u201d&nbsp; Rather, an Action
<b><i>must in addition</i></b> show \u201cit would be unclear as to what element the limitation was making reference.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp; The examples given in MPEP §&nbsp;2173.05(e) all require that there be two of something, and that the claim language be ambiguous as to which of the
 two is being referred to, or some similar <i>ambiguity</i>.&nbsp; No such showing exists in the Action.&nbsp; MPEP §&nbsp;2173.05(e) cautions that no rejection should be raised when \u201cthe scope of a claim would be reasonably ascertainable by those skilled in the art.\u201d&nbsp;
</span><span style="font-family:&quot;Times-Roman&quot;,serif">MPEP § 2173.02(II) cautions that \u201cExaminers should note that Office policy is not to employ
</span><i><span style="font-family:&quot;Times-Italic&quot;,serif">per se </span></i><span style="font-family:&quot;Times-Roman&quot;,serif">rules to make technical rejections.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;<i>See also&nbsp;</i></span><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif">
<i>Evolusion Concepts, Inc. v. HOC Events, Inc.</i>, 22 F.4th 1361 (Fed. Cir. 2022) (departure from strict &quot;antecedent basis&quot; is not indefinite).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:22.0pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Action makes no showing that the scope of any of the objected-to claims is anything other than \u201creasonably ascertainable.\u201d&nbsp; Without that explanation,
 it\u2019s impossible to know whether there\u2019s a real problem, let alone what the appropriate cure would be.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">On Fri, Sep 26, 2025 at 10:38<span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif">\u202f</span>AM George Jakobsche via Patentpractice &lt;<a href="mailto:patentpractice@oppedahl-lists.com">patentpractice@oppedahl-lists.com</a>&gt; wrote:<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif">An examiner objected to a claim like the following (emphasis added):</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif">&nbsp;</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif">A doohickie comprising:
</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<u>XYZ apparatus</u> that defines a volume and comprises:
</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;a port in fluid communication with the volume;
</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;... ; and</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif">&nbsp;&nbsp; a ABC disposed directly below the XYZ apparatus ...</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif">&nbsp;</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif">The examiner asserts \u201cXYZ apparatus\u201d requires a leading indefinite article, i.e., \u201ca\u201d. This seems like a relatively minor point, but
 it seems to me that \u201capparatus\u201d here refers collectively to its components (as recited after its \u201ccomprising\u201d). If so, \u201capparatus\u201d is
<i>uncountable</i> and, therefore, does not take an indefinite article before it, as discussed
<a href="https://www.butte.edu/departments/cas/tipsheets/grammar/articles.html" target="_blank">
here</a> and <a href="https://usingaborrowedlanguage.wordpress.com/2014/02/11/apparatus/" target="_blank">
here</a>. </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif">&nbsp;</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif">Are there any grammarians on this list who can opine on necessity of an indefinite article before \u201capparatus\u201d in the subject claim?</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif">&nbsp;</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif">Situations like this make me wish I still had access to my nineth grade English teacher (Mrs. Pollard), who I sorely underappreciated
 at the time. </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif">&nbsp;</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif">Best regards,</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif">George</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif">George Jakobsche Patent Counsel PLLC</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif">39 Old Farm Road, Concord, MA 01742-5234</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif"><a href="mailto:George@JakobscheLaw.com" target="_blank"><span style="color:#0563C1">George@JakobscheLaw.com</span></a> | +1-978-245-8100</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif">&nbsp;</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif">This e-mail is from George Jakobsche Patent Counsel PLLC, a law firm, and it may contain confidential or privileged
 information. If you are not the intended recipient, do not read, copy, or distribute this message or any attachment(s). Instead, please notify the sender and delete the message and the attachment(s). Thank you.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">-- <br>
Patentpractice mailing list<br>
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