Appeal No. 2004-0868
Application 09/742,980
claim term above. This person would have further found from col. 2, line 46, to col. 3, line 22,
and FIGS. 5 and 6 of Hwang that floatable means 30 does not include or involve in any respect
guiding rods or guide elements 24 and receiving passages or recesses 14, and these elements are
not disclosed to play any role in floatable means 30 facilitating the free movement or floatability
of plug connector 20 with respect to circuit board 40, regardless of the relative positions of
printed circuit boards 40 and 44 prior to mating.
Accordingly, we find as a matter of fact that the disclosure of Hwang with respect to
guide rods 24 and receiving passages or recesses 14 as relied on by the examiner, does not
disclose each and every element of the claimed invention, arranged as required by appealed
independent claim 1, as we have interpreted the language thereof above, and by appealed
dependent claims 2, 4 and 5, either expressly or under the principles of inherency, and thus, in
the absence of a prima facie case of anticipation within the meaning of 35 U.S.C. § 102(e), we
reverse this ground of rejection,
We also reverse the ground of rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as a matter of law on
the same factual findings, because, as appellants argue (brief, pages 9-10; reply brief, page 6), the
examiner provides no additional scientific explanation or objective evidence from Takase which
would cure the factual deficiencies of Hwang with respect to appealed dependent claims 3 and 6.
The examiner’s decision is reversed.
Reversed
- 7 -
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007