Appeal No. 1998-2988
Application No. 08/502,560
OPINION
We have carefully considered the claims, the applied
prior art reference, and the respective positions articulated
by appellants and the examiner. As a consequence of our
review, we will reverse both the anticipation rejection and
the obviousness rejection of claims 1 through 5, 7, and 8.
Claim 1 recites, in pertinent part, "means for mounting
and for releasing the mounting fixture to the transfer tool in
a plurality of orientations." In other words, the mounting
fixture must be attached to the transfer tool such that the
relative orientations between the two elements can vary. The
examiner asserts (Answer, page 3) that the two prongs onto
which the mounting band of QWIK-STIK fits "allow for mounting
and releasing the fixture to the transfer tool in any
orientation only limited by the degree to which the transfer
tool may be angled within a manhole." However, in the
drawings of the advertisement the two prongs appear to be
maintained at an angle of ninety degrees with respect to the
pole sections (the transfer tool), and the text adds no
further description of the relative orientations of the pole
and the prongs or the mounting band. It is mere speculation
3
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