Key points
- The application as filed contains the sentence: “In embodiments, the edge 40 may be a distance, d, between 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.15, 0.2 and 0.3, 0.35, 0.4mm below the shaving plane A, while still reducing the amount of discomfort that may be caused to a user of the razor cartridge through skin bulge following the last blade 64.”
- Does this provide basis for the claimed range of " between 0.2mm and 0.4mm below the shaving plane A"?
- " The respondent [patentee] argued that paragraph [0013] of the application as published, clearly disclosed fifteen equally preferred ranges, presented in a concise, abbreviated form. According to the respondent, the skilled person would directly and unambiguously derive the ranges from all the possible combinations of lower and upper limits given in the second sentence of paragraph [0013], in particular in view of the use of the phrase "between...and...". The skilled person would not understand the sentence as disclosing no particular combinations at all, as this would render the sentence meaningless"
- "The Board, however, follows the arguments of the appellants [opponents] that the formulation of the sentence is ambiguous and no unequivocal correlation between any particular values is given, so that the combination of the values 0.2 mm and 0.4 mm to create a range is an arbitrary combination which was not directly and unambiguously disclosed."
- " Even if the argument of the respondent [patentee] were to be followed, that the phrase "between...and.." indicates that a disclosure of various ranges was intended, the application as originally filed contains no pointer to any specific "pairs" of numbers to create particular ranges. This does not mean that the skilled person finds the sentence of paragraph [0013] completely meaningless, as argued by the respondent, but rather that the sentence does not unambiguously disclose any particular ranges."
- The Board: " Even if it were to be considered that the skilled person generally reads with "a mind willing to understand", this cannot override the requirements of the 'gold standard' (G2 /10) that the claimed subject-matter be directly and unambiguously derivable from the application documents as originally filed. This is, however, not the case as discussed "
T 2608/17 - link after jump
source http://justpatentlaw.blogspot.com/2021/12/t-260817-abbreviated-list-does-not-work.html
