Appeal No. 1999-2363
Application 08/587,710
examiner (see page 3 in the final rejection), Chartier’s cap
10 and rubber washer 24 meet the recitations of the nut-
element retainer and nut-element, respectively. By no stretch
of the imagination, however, does the rubber washer 24
constitute a “nut-element” under any reasonable definition of
this term. Furthermore, Chartier does not provide any3
indication that cap 10 and rubber washer 24 have the radial
float relationship required by claim 5.
Independent claim 32 recites a clip-on fastener-element
comprising, inter alia, a fastener-element retainer and a
fastener-element secured to the fastener-element retainer by
elements allowing the fastener-element to float in position
radially a limited amount relative to the fastener-element
retainer. Although not expressly stated in the final
rejection or answer, it is presumably the examiner’s position
that Chartier’s cap 10 and rubber washer 24 meet the
recitations of the fastener-element retainer and fastener-
element, respectively. Here again, however, rubber washer 24
3For example, Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary (G. &
C. Merriam Co. 1977) defines the term “nut” as “a perforated
block usu. of metal that has an internal screw thread and is
used on a bolt or screw for tightening or holding something.”
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