Appeal No. 97-1473
Application 08/492,376
227 USPQ 58 (BPAI 1985). In the present case, we find a
reasonable suggestion to do what appellant's now claimed subject
matter encompasses.
Regarding the requirement of appellant's claim 7 on appeal
that the numbered disks be "about 6mm in diameter and about
1.5mm thick," we consider such sizing to be a mere matter of
design choice, especially since appellant's specification (page
5)
indicates that such sizing is only exemplary and since we find
nothing in the specification which indicates that this sizing
solves any particular problem or provides some unexpected
result.
To summarize our decision, we have reversed the examiner's
rejection of claims 1 through 7 under the judicially created
doctrine of obviousness-type double patenting as being
unpatentable over claims 1 and 15 of U.S. Patent No. 5,454,567
in view of Albright. We have affirmed the examiner's rejection
of claims 8 and 9 under 35 U.S.C. §103 based on Stebing and
Albright. In addition, pursuant to 37 CFR § 1.196(b), we have
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