Appeal No. 1999-1169
Application No. 08/442,441
Hollstrom 2,442,129 May
25, 1948
Keeleric 2,799,980 Jul. 23, 1957
THE REJECTION
Claims 2-21 and 36-57 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C.
§ 103(a) as being unpatentable over Hollstrom in view of
Keeleric.
Reference is made to the appellants’ brief (Paper No. 13)
and to the examiner’s final rejection and answer (Paper Nos.
11 and 15) for the respective positions of the appellants and
the examiner regarding the merits of this rejection.1,2
DISCUSSION
We shall not sustain the examiner’s 35 U.S.C. § 103(a)
rejection of claims 2 through 21 and 36 through 57 as being
unpatentable over Hollstrom in view of Keeleric. For the
reasons expressed below, these claims are indefinite.
Although the statements of the rejection in the final rejection and1
answer do not include claims 16 through 21, 36 through 42 and 50 through 55,
the accompanying explanations indicate that the omission was inadvertent. The
arguments advanced in the brief pertaining to these claims show that the
appellants recognized the examiner’s oversight and were not prejudiced
thereby.
The final rejection also included a 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) rejection based2
on Hollstrom which has since been withdrawn by the examiner (see page 3 in the
answer).
3
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