Appeal No. 1997-3624
Application 08/398,522
Patent Abstracts of Japan, Vol. 18, No. 195 (E-
1533), April 5, 1994, relating to Japanese Patent
Document 6005273, January 14, 1994.1
Claims 1, 3 through 5, 7 through 9, 11 through 14, 16,
18, 27 and 28 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being
unpatentable over the Japanese reference in view of the
British reference.2
Attention is directed to the appellants’ brief (Paper No.
17) and to the examiner’s answer (Paper No. 18) for the
1 The examiner has not made it clear whether it is the abstract itself or the
underlying Japanese patent document (to the extent described in the abstract) which is
relied upon to support the appealed rejection. This ambiguity is of no practical
moment, however, since the appellants have not challenged either as lacking prior art
status with respect to the claimed invention, or the accuracy of the abstract in
describing the Japanese patent document.
2 In the final rejection (Paper No. 9), claims 1 and 16 also stood rejected under
35 U.S.C. § 112, second paragraph. Since this rejection was not restated in the
examiner’s answer (Paper No. 18), we assume it has been withdrawn as a result of the
amendments made subsequent to final rejection. See Ex parte Emm, 118 USPQ 180, 181 (Bd.
App. 1957).
3
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