Appeal No. 1996-2991 Application 08/302,931 1.196(b) to independent claim 10 and its dependent claims 11 and 17. Therefore, the decision of the examiner is affirmed- in-part. In addition to affirming the examiner’s rejection of one or more claims, this decision contains a new ground 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, “A new ground of rejection shall not be considered final for purposes of judicial review.” Regarding any affirmed rejection, 37 CFR § 1.197(b) provides: (b) Appellants may file a single request for rehearing within two months from the date of the original decision . . . . 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 12Page: Previous 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 NextLast modified: November 3, 2007