Appeal No. 97-4079
Application No. 08/310,592
nonobviousness. The declarant states that it is unexpected
that like-polyketone polymer combinations could be used in
communicating significant (emphasis ours) power and motion
(para. 4). The claims, however, are not limited to systems
for transmitting "significant" power and motion and we find no
definition of the term in the specification or in Flood’s
declaration. Furthermore, the declarant also states that
"[i]n constructing systems for communicating motion and power,
as for example in multi-gear systems, like-polymer
combinations are rarely used” (para. 2). One known exception,
according to Flood, is the use of PAEK polymers (para. 3).
PAEK is an abbreviation for polyaryletherketone, a polyketone
polymer. Based on these statements, we conclude that, while4
it may be rare, it was known in the art to use like-polymer
combinations, including polyaryletherketone for power and
motion transmission. The appellant’s claim 1 calls for first
and second means (e.g., gears) each comprising a polyketone
polymer. It appears to us that claim 1 includes within its
scope polyaryletherketone, which the declarant admits has been
4 Handbook of Plastics, Elastomers, and Composites page
2.48 (Charles A. Harper ed., 2d ed., McGraw-Hill, Inc. 1992).
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