Appeal No. 96-0969
Application 08/200,420
reference discloses, expressly or under the principles of
inherency, each and every element of a claimed invention. RCA
Corp. v. Applied Digital Data Sys., Inc., 730 F.2d 1440, 1444,
221 USPQ 385, 388 (Fed. Cir. 1984).
Each of the independent claims on appeal calls for a
floating element (e.g., a sliding ball) that is buoyant in the
liquid to be contained in the bottle. The examiner’s position
that the rubber sliding ball valve F of DeQuillfeldt meets
this claim limitation because rubber floats in liquid and
therefore the stopper F inherently floats (final rejection,
page 2) is not well taken. As is made clear by appendixes 1
and 2 attached to appellant’s brief, the specific gravity of
rubber compounds varies. In particular, the specific gravity
of rubber may be either greater or less than 1.0.
Furthermore, the specific gravity of beverages that are likely
to be contained in DeQuillfeldt’s bottle, e.g., alcoholic
beverages, varies. Accordingly, depending on the specific
rubber compound and the specific beverage contained in
DeQuillfeldt’s bottle, a ball valve F made of rubber may or
may not be buoyant in the liquid contained in the bottle.
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