Appeal No. 2002-0416
Application 08/902,625
media wherein the pleated filter media has pleats which extend in
the direction of vehicular motion. Appellants further states
that consequently, the pleats provide baffles which prevent
either the transmission oil or lubricating oil in the pan from
sloshing laterally to one side or the other due to centrifugal
force when the vehicle turns, thus creating a momentary situation
in which either a vehicle’s engine or its transmission might be
starved for oil. This is an important feature of appellants’
filter element.
II. The rejection of claims 33-35 and 37 under 35 U.S.C.
§ 102(b) as being anticipated by Rodgers
We consider claim 33 in this rejection.
On pages 7-8 of the brief, appellants state that Rodgers
does not anticipate these claims because Rodgers does not
disclose the preamble recitations of the claims as summarized on
pages 6-7 of the brief. Appellants also state that Rodgers does
not disclose the concept of a filter media being positioned below
a mounting frame as required by claim 33. (brief, pages 7-8).
On page 4 of the answer, the examiner states that the
limitations regarding the transmission pan and vehicle relate to
an intended use and therefore carry no patentable weight.
It therefore appears that a critical issue to be resolved in
this appeal is whether or not claim 33 (and claim 30, discussed
later in this decision), requires (1) that the mounting frame be
adapted to be oriented in a selected direction parallel to the
direction in which the vehicle normally moves when the frame is
mounted on the peripheral surface of the sump and (2) that the
pleats, the valleys, and panels of the filter media extend in a
direction parallel to the direction in which the vehicle mounting
the transmission oil pan moves.
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