Appeal No. 96-3092
Application 08/307,498
Appellants argue that the alignment required for the
invention to operate does not rise to the level of criticality
deemed necessary by the examiner for low end plastic optical
fibers as claimed [brief, pages 6-7]. In support of this
position, appellants have filed declarations under 37 CFR §
1.132 by Thomas B. Kellerman, Brian D. Alden and Ronald C.
Lasky. Each of these declarations states that the alignment
of plastic
optical fibers for an operative device can be achieved by the
disclosed invention without any additional structure.
The examiner responds that the specification notes
that “additional structure may be utilized to more effectively
accomplish such alignment” [page 14, lines 28-29]. The
examiner contends that such additional structure is necessary
rather than optional to accomplish the necessary alignment.
The examiner also questioned the objectivity of the
declarants. With respect to the low grade plastic fibers
referred to in the three declarations noted above, the
examiner noted that the claims were not limited to such low
grade optical fibers [supplemental answer].
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