Appeal No. 1998-1240
Application 08/198,443
circular opening 14 for allowing a plunger handle 15 to pass
through the cover, a central notch 23' for accommodating a
drain pipe 12, and tapes 21 having ends 22, 25 for tying about
the rear of the tank and the drain pipe to secure the cover in
place.
With regard to the standing 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) rejection
of claims 1 through 3, 6, 8 and 11 as being anticipated by
Puste, it is well settled that anticipation is established
when a single prior art reference discloses, expressly or
under principles of
inherency, each and every element of a claimed invention. RCA
Corp. v. Applied Digital Data Sys., Inc., 730 F.2d 1440, 1444,
221 USPQ 385, 388 (Fed. Cir. 1984).
The explanation of the rejection in the answer (see pages
3 and 9) indicates that the examiner’s determination of
anticipation relies heavily on principles of inherency. The
appellant contends (see pages 19 through 21 in the main brief)
that the examiner’s analysis is unsound because Puste does not
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