COMMISSIONER'S DECISION
Claim Terminology: Circuit Breaker
Terminology used in three claims was inconsistent with the terms used in the
disclosure. The Agent submitted new claims.
Final Action: Affirmed
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Patent application 205796 (Class 306-228), was filed on November 16,
1976, for an invention entitled "Compressed-Gas Insulated Circuit Breaker
Operating Mechanism." The inventors are Willie B. Freeman et al, assign-
ors to Westinghouse Electric Corporation. The Examiner in charge of the
application took a Final Action on June 28, 1979, refusing to allow it to
proceed to patent.
This application is directed to circuit breakers in which compressed gas
is used to position the movable contact within the circuit breaker.
In the Final Action the Examiner rejected claims 4, 5 and 8 because they
contain certain terms which were not consistent with the terminology of the
disclosure, thereby rendering these claims indefinite. The remaining claims
were indicated as allowable.
In response to the Final Action the applicant altered some of the terms used
in the rejected claims in an effort to overcome the objections made in that
action. Since the amendments did not remove all the ambiguities in the claims
the application was forwarded to the Patent Appeal Board.
After considering the amended claims we contacted Mr. Oldham by telephone and
explained the disclosure and claims which were not consistent with
each other. Since then we have received two letters of amendment dated May 28,
1980, and June 23, 1980, and are now satisfied that terminology found through-
out the application meets the requirements of Section 36 of the Patent Act.
Therefore we recommend to the Commissioner of Patents that the amendments
to disclosure and claims are acceptable and the rejection to claims 4, 5
and 8 be withdrawn.
G.A. Asher S.D. Kot
Chairman Member
Patent Appeal Board, Canada
I concur with the reasoning and findings of the Patent Appeal Board. According-
1y I accept the amendments to claims 4, 5 and 8. The application is returned
to the Examiner to resume prosecution in accordance with this decision.
J.H.A. Gariepy
Commissioner of Patents
Dated at Hull, Quebec
this 9th. day of July, 1980
Agent for Applicant
McConnell & Fox
Box 510
Hamilton, Ont.