Appeal No. 1998-1240 Application 08/198,443 circular opening 14 for allowing a plunger handle 15 to pass through the cover, a central notch 23' for accommodating a drain pipe 12, and tapes 21 having ends 22, 25 for tying about the rear of the tank and the drain pipe to secure the cover in place. With regard to the standing 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) rejection of claims 1 through 3, 6, 8 and 11 as being anticipated by Puste, it is well settled that anticipation is established when a single prior art reference discloses, expressly or under principles of inherency, each and every element of a claimed invention. RCA Corp. v. Applied Digital Data Sys., Inc., 730 F.2d 1440, 1444, 221 USPQ 385, 388 (Fed. Cir. 1984). The explanation of the rejection in the answer (see pages 3 and 9) indicates that the examiner’s determination of anticipation relies heavily on principles of inherency. The appellant contends (see pages 19 through 21 in the main brief) that the examiner’s analysis is unsound because Puste does not 4Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 NextLast modified: November 3, 2007