Appeal No. 97-2224
Application 08/510,613
e) claim 12 as being unpatentable over Twork in view of
Conrad and Ward; and
f) claim 13 as being unpatentable over Twork in view of
Conrad.
Reference is made to the appellant’s brief (Paper No. 6)
and to the examiner’s answer (Paper No. 7) for the respective
positions of the appellant and the examiner with regard to the
merits of these rejections.2
Twork, the examiner’s primary reference, discloses “a
bracket for mounting a fuel filter on a vehicle . . . without
the need for any tools or special equipment” (column 1, lines
6 through 9). The bracket is a one piece, spring steel
element having a U-shaped base portion 12 and arcuate side
walls 16, 18. The base portion includes screws 36, 38 for
mounting the bracket to the vehicle and a locating tab 39 for
ensuring the proper mounting orientation. The side walls 16,
2The appellant submitted a 37 CFR 1.132 declaration with
the brief to demonstrate the usefulness of and long felt need
for the claimed invention. The examiner, however, acting
pursuant to 37 CFR § 1.195, has refused to enter and consider
the declaration (see page 8 in the answer). Accordingly, we
have not taken the declaration into account in reviewing the
merits of this appeal.
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