Appeal No. 2001-0611
Application No. 08/742,733
first piece, and means for resisting rotation between the first
and second pieces. In addition, claim 26 requires that the
rotation resisting means comprises a flute on the protruding
member and a corresponding fluted opening in the cavity.
In rejecting claim 26 as being unpatentable over Goble, the
examiner correctly found correspondence between the claimed
protruding member of the first piece and the male connector
element 14 of Goble, and between the claimed cavity of the second
piece and the female connector element 13 of Goble. In rejecting
claim 26, we consider that the examiner implicitly determined
that it would have been obvious to provide the connector elements
13 and 14 of Goble with means for resisting rotation in view of
the teachings of Goble at column 6, lines 36-39; column 8, line
65 through column 9, line 6; and column 9, lines 16-30.
Concerning the requirement for a flute on the protruding member
and a corresponding fluted opening in the cavity, the examiner
has taken the position (final rejection, page 2) that “[f]lutes
and fluted openings would have been an obvious modification in
order to enhance the rotation resistance discussed in column 6,
lines 36-39.”
11
Page: Previous 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007