Appeal No. 2000-0185
Application 08/847,111
The decision of the examiner is reversed.
In addition to the foregoing, we REMAND this application
to the examiner for a more complete search of the prior art,
particularly with regard to claims 17 through 32 on appeal,
which claims are directed to the seal per se. In the
examination of an application for patent, the examiner is
charge with the responsibility of conducting a thorough search
of the prior art, which search should cover the invention as
described and claimed, including the inventive concepts toward
which the claims are directed. While we note that the
examiner’s has searched in Class 277, we see that no inquiry
was made of a Primary examiner in that art. Given the breadth
of appellants’ independent claim 17, we view the need for such
an inquiry as essential to developing the best search of the
prior art. In addition, we point the examiner to Class 49,
subclasses 475+ as possible areas of search and inquiry. In
this regard, we note that § 904.01(c) of the M.P.E.P. cautions
the examiner that not only must the art be searched within
which the invention claimed is classifiable, but also all
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