Appeal No. 97-4185 Page 16
Application No. 08/602,274
invention was made to replace Sutton's spring member (i.e.,
rib 50) with a semi-circular spring element. The mere
existence of semi-circular spring elements do not, in and of
itself, establish the obviousness of the claimed semi-circular
spring element in the claimed combination. Thus, the examiner
has not established a proper factual basis to support the
rejection of claim 14. Accordingly, the decision of the
examiner to reject claim 14 under 35 U.S.C. § 103 is reversed.
CONCLUSION
To summarize, the decision of the examiner to reject
claims 1 to 7, 9 to 12, 14 and 15 under 35 U.S.C. § 103 is
affirmed with respect to claims 1, 2, 9 to 11 and 15, but
reversed with respect to claims 3 to 7, 12 and 14.
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