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2173.05(r) Omnibus Claim - 2100 Patentability
2173.05(r) Omnibus Claim
Some applications are filed with an omnibus claim which reads as follows: A device substantially as shown and described. This claim should be rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph, because it is indefinite in that it fails to point out what is included or excluded by the claim language. See Ex parte Fressola, 27 USPQ2d 1608 (Bd. Pat. App. & Inter. 1993), for a discussion of the history of omnibus claims and an explanation of why omnibus claims do not comply with the requirements of 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph.
Such a claim can be rejected using Form Paragraph 7.35. See MPEP § 706.03(d).
For cancellation of such a claim by examiner's amendment, see MPEP § 1302.04(b).
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