Appeal No. 96-1608 Application 08/220,462 clauses of independent claims 9 and 10. In summary: a) the decision of the examiner to reject 3, 7, 9, 10, 12 and 14 through 16 under 35 U.S.C. § 103 is reversed; and b) new rejections of 3, 7, 9, 10, 12 and 14 through 16 are entered pursuant to 37 CFR § 1.196(b). This decision contains new grounds of rejection pursuant to 37 CFR § 1.196(b)(amended effective Dec. 1, 1997, by final rule notice, 62 Fed. Reg. 53,131, 53,197 (Oct. 10, 1997), 1203 Off. Gaz. Pat. & Trademark Office 63, 122 (Oct. 21, 1997)). 37 CFR § 1.196(b) provides that, “A new ground of rejection shall not be considered final for purposes of judicial review.” 37 CFR § 1.196(b) also provides that the appellant, WITHIN TWO MONTHS FROM THE DATE OF THE DECISION, must exercise one of the following two options with respect to the new grounds of rejection to avoid termination of proceedings (§ 1.197(c)) as to the rejected claims: (1) Submit an appropriate amendment of the claims so rejected or a showing of facts relating to the claims so rejected, or both, and have the matter reconsidered by the examiner, in which event the -8-Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 NextLast modified: November 3, 2007