When Is An Angle Of "More Than Zero Degrees" Not Actually "More Than Zero Degrees"?

An EPO Technical Board of Appeal recently considered a case concerning a parametric definition of a material component and returned a decision which, at first glance, might raise some eyebrows. This case, however, highlights an important issue which should be taken into account when drafting patent applications destined for Europe, regardless of the technical field.

The Original Application

In European Patent Application EP07017348, applicant SUMCO Corporation had claimed an epitaxial silicon wafer; a key feature of which was that the inclination angle of a particular crystallographic plane was, as measured from a specified crystallographic orientation and with respect to the main surface of the wafer, "more than zero degrees...".