Appeal No. 98-0409
Application 08/420,480
the receivers be removable and replaceable. Recognizing this,
the examiner has taken the position that the claimed segments
(formed by the slides or clasps P and the portion of the belt
A to which they are attached) "may be made of multiple parts"
since the slides or clasps P are disclosed as being located at
"convenient distances on the belt A" (answer, page 3).
However, the mere fact that the slides or clasps P are
disclosed as being located at spaced distances does not serve
as a sufficient factual basis for establishing that the
segments, which includes both the slides or clasps P and the
portion of the belt A to which they are attached, may be
formed of "multiple parts" as the examiner suggests. Indeed,
the main supporting structure for Goss' cartridge belt and
holder is the belt A and, if this belt was made of "multiple
parts" (as would be necessary if the "segments" were made of
multiple parts) as the examiner proposes, it does not appear
that the device of Goss would function in the manner intended
(see Ex parte Hartmann, 186 USPQ 366, 367 (Bd. App. 1974)).
Accordingly, we will not sustain the rejection of claims 10,
11 and 14 under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over
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