Appeal No. 1996-3350
Application 08/187,114
the Pegoraro Declaration and appellants have not proferred any
explanation. Appellants have also not rebutted the examiner’s
evaluation of the Pegoraro Declaration as found on page 7 of
the Answer. We adopt the examiner’s evaluation of this
Declaration and add the following comments. The Declaration
appears to support the analysis discussed above that the
properties of the elastic sleeve would have been easily
determined by one of ordinary skill in the art for a specific
cable diameter (see the Declaration, pages 2-3, paragraphs 11
and 12). It is noted that claim 13 on appeal includes a
tubular element for specific cable diameters.
For the foregoing reasons, we determine that the examiner
has established a prima facie case of obviousness in view of
the reference evidence. Reevaluating this prima facie case of
obviousness in light of appellants’ arguments and evidence, we
determine that the preponderance of the evidence weighs in
favor of obviousness within the meaning of § 103.
Accordingly, the examiner’s decision to reject claims 5, 6 and
12-20 under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as unpatentable over Clabburn in
view of Nelson is affirmed. As discussed above, since this
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