Written Description: 35 USC § 112
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms . . . any person skilled in the art to which it pertains . . . to make and use the same . . .
Basic inquiry: Can one skilled in the art reasonably conclude that the inventor was in possession of the claimed invention at the time the application was filed?
The written description requirement is separate and distinct from the enablement requirement.
Reduction to Practice
Actual reduction to practice not always required.
Deposit of biological materials not a substitute for written description.
Clear depiction of the claimed invention in detailed drawings.
What is conventional or well known to one skilled in the art need not be described in detail.
How many species of the claimed genus are described?
Are the species that are described representative of the claimed genus?
Does Applicant describe a structural feature(s) unique to the claimed genus?
Applicant may need to include structural as well as functional claim language.
Is the phenotype of the transgenic plant described?