Ex parte DOPKE et al. - Page 11




          Appeal No. 96-0425                                        Page 11           
          Application No. 08/108,986                                                  


          and said second conveyor means" as recited in claim 1.  In                  
          that regard, we agree with the appellants position that                     
          Hognestad only teaches that the steps of removing the last                  
          product from a stack and supplying a new stack of products be               
          performed sequentially.  We have reviewed the entire                        
          disclosure of Hognestad and find no suggestion therein of the               
          claimed simultaneous movement.  Accordingly, we must conclude               
          that the examiner has resorted to speculation, unfounded                    
          assumption or hindsight reconstruction to supply the                        
          deficiencies in the factual basis for the rejection.                        


               Furthermore, even if the position of the examiner was                  
          correct, the modified device of Hognestad would not have any                
          structure corresponding to the claimed "means for moving."  As              
          explained in In re Donaldson, 16 F.3d 1189, 1193, 29 USPQ2d                 
          1845, 1848-49 (Fed. Cir. 1994), the PTO is not exempt from                  
          following the statutory mandate of 35 U.S.C. § 112, paragraph               
          6, which reads:                                                             
               An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed               
               as a means or step for performing a specified function                 
               without the recital of structure, material, or acts in                 
               support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to                  







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