Appeal No. 97-1439 Page 17
Application No. 08/417,981
the locking ring 7 and the keeper ring 13. Accordingly, the
claimed limitation that the stop ring and the keeper are arranged
and constructed of materials having sufficiently low coefficients
of friction so as to facilitate relative rotation of the posts is
not taught or suggested by the applied prior art. Thus, the
examiner has failed to meet the initial burden of presenting a
prima facie case of obviousness. Thus, we cannot sustain the6
examiner's rejection of appealed independent claim 15 under
35 U.S.C. § 103.
6 Id.
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