Appeal No. 95-3109
Application 08/043,113
The following rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 103 are before us
for review:2
(a) claims 1-4, 6, 11-15, 18 and 19, unpatentable over
Yanagishima;
(b) claims 5 and 17, unpatentable over Yanagishima in view
of Smith; and
(c) claims 7, 16 and 20, unpatentable over Yanagishima in
view of Skrzycki.
Each of the independent claims 1 and 11 calls for a support
member having an opening for receiving sound directed from a
loudspeaker, a discrete acoustically transparent grille assembly
extending across the opening, and a trim cloth covering the
grille to conceal its finish and at least a portion of the
support member to hide the grille assembly from view from within
a vehicle passenger compartment. Independent claim 18 sets forth
similar subject matter in method format.
In the final rejection, claims 1-7 and 11-17 were also2
rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 112, second paragraph. Since these
claims have been amended subsequent to final rejection in such a
manner so as to apparently overcome the examiner’s criticism of
these claims, and since no mention of this rejection has been
made by the examiner in the answer, we presume that the examiner
has withdrawn the final rejection of claims 1-7 and 11-17 on this
ground. Ex parte Emm, 118 USPQ 180, 181 (Bd. App. 1957).
3
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