Appeal No. 98-0336
Application 08/761,014
James E. Bobrow and Faryar Jabbari (the appellants)
appeal from the final rejection of claims 1-20, the only
claims present in the application.
We REVERSE.
The appellants' invention pertains to (1) a method of
controlling a resettable truss element for maximizing the
absorption of energy in a structure and (2) an apparatus for
absorbing energy in a structure. Independent claims 1 and 15
are further illustrative of the appealed subject matter and
copies thereof may be found in the appendix to the brief.
The reference relied on by the examiner is:
Kobori et al. (Kobori) 5,311,709 May 17, 1994
(filed Dec. 17, 1992)
The claims on appeal stand rejected in the following
manner:2
Claims 1-6, 8, 11-13 and 15-20 stand rejected under 35
U.S.C. § 102(e) as being anticipated by Kobori.
For an explanation of the rejections the answer makes reference to the2
final rejection (Paper No. 16) and to "Attachment A" to the advisory action
(Paper No. 12) in parent application Serial No. 08/394,416. Such a procedure
by the examiner is totally improper and inappropriate. Manual of Patent
Examining Procedure (MPEP) § 1208 (7th ed., Jul. 1998) expressly provides that
incorporation by reference may be made only to a single other action.
2
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