Appeal No. 97-4079
Application No. 08/310,592
c. Claims 1-3, 5 and 14
We will not sustain the rejection of claims 1-3, 5 and 14
under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Sahler in
view of Kastelic.
We agree with the appellant's argument (brief, pages 5,
6) that Sahler does not provide a basis for a like-polymer
gear combination. In fact, we are unable to find any
statement in Sahler regarding the use of plastic or polymer to
manufacture the gears shown in his gear assembly. For this
reason, the rejection must be reversed.
d. New Ground of Rejection; 37 CFR 1.196(b)
Claims 2, 3, 5 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103
as unpatentable over Nadal in view of Kastelic.6
Claim 2 depends from claim 1 and further recites that "at
least two of said means are gears." Nadal’s system includes
two like-polymer gears, namely, worm gear 32 and sector gear
20 and this would have been suggestive of the gears of claim
2.
6We incorporate herein our analysis regarding the
affirmed rejection of claim 1, supra.
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