Appeal No. 1997-3087
Application 08/541,519
Garlock, Inc., 721 F.2d 1540, 1556, 220 USPQ 303, 315 (Fed.
Cir. 1983), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 851 (1984). Second, the
examiner’s implied position that
the toggle latch will perform equally well irrespective of the
placement of the protruding tab and microswitch is
speculative. Third, the examiner has not adequately addressed
appellant’s argument in the paragraph spanning pages 9 and 10
of the brief concerning the alleged benefit of the claimed
placement of the protruding tab. In this matter, appellant’s 3
argument regarding the benefits of the compactness and
simplicity of design of the claimed structure is reasonable
and cannot be ignored simply because the specification does
not expressly attribute these benefits to the specifically
claimed placement of the protruding tab on the retaining
means. Compare In re Chu, 66 F.3d 292, 298, 36 USPQ2d 1089,
3These arguments mirror the benefits of simplicity of
construction and use, reduced manufacturing costs, and
simplicity of assembly asserted on pages 2 and 3 of the
specification as flowing for the disclosed invention.
5
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