Appeal No. 1998-0498
Application No. 08/541,471
claims 17 and 26 and their respective dependent claims under
the second paragraph of 35 USC § 112.
In addition to affirming the examiner's rejection of one
or more claims, this decision contains a new ground of
rejection pursuant to 37 CFR § 1.196(b)(amended effective Dec.
1, 1997, by final rule notice, 62 Fed. Reg. 53131, 53197 (Oct.
10, 1997), 1203 Off. Gaz. Pat. Office 63, 122 (Oct. 21,
1997)). 37 CFR
§ 1.196(b) provides that [a] new ground of rejection shall not
be considered final for purposes of judicial review."
Regarding any affirmed rejection, 37 CFR § 1.197(b)
provides:
(b) Appellants may file a single request for
rehearing within two months from the date of the
original decision . . . .
37 CFR § 1.196(b) also provides that the appellants,
WITHIN TWO MONTHS FROM THE DATE OF THE DECISION, must exercise
one of the following two options with respect to the new
ground of rejection to avoid termination of proceedings (37
CFR § 1.197(c)) as to the rejected claims:
(1) Submit an appropriate amendment of the
claims so rejected or a showing of facts relating to
the claims so rejected, or both, and have the matter
8
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007