Ex parte ROSS et al. - Page 2




              Appeal No. 1999-0545                                                                 Page 2                 
              Application No. 08/606,068                                                                                  


                                                    BACKGROUND                                                            
                     The appellants’ invention relates to an apparatus for continuously casting molten                    
              metal .  An understanding of the invention can be derived from a reading of exemplary                       
              claim 1, which appears in the appendix to the appellants’ Brief.                                            
                     The prior art references of record relied upon by the examiner in rejecting the                      
              appealed claims are:                                                                                        
              Wood et al. (Wood)                  4,934,441                   Jun. 19, 1990                               
              Ross                                       5,133,402                    Jul. 28, 1992                       
                     Claims 1-12 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over the                      
              combined teachings of Ross and Wood.                                                                        
                     Rather than reiterate the conflicting viewpoints advanced by the examiner and the                    
              appellants regarding the above-noted rejection, we make reference to the Answer (Paper                      
              No. 15) for the examiner's complete reasoning in support of the rejection, and to the Brief                 
              (Paper No. 14) for the appellants’ arguments thereagainst.                                                  
                                                       OPINION                                                            
                     In reaching our decision in this appeal, we have given careful consideration to the                  
              appellants’ specification and claims, to the applied prior art references, and to the                       
              respective positions articulated by the appellants and the examiner.  As a consequence of                   
              our review, we make the determinations which follow.                                                        










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