Appeal No. 2000-1651
Application No. 08/871,923
obvious matter of design choice. Cf. In re Kuhle, 526 F.2d
553, 555, 188 USPQ 7, 9 (CCPA 1975).
The Dooley and Mason references are cited by the examiner
as evidence of the obviousness of providing, respectively,
end-to-end couplings for cable racks and wings on the ends of
a cross or side member. Neither of these references discloses
or suggests longitudinal members having a circular cross-
section, and thus they are not relevant to the above-discussed
question of the obviousness of claim 15 over Burke.
Accordingly, the rejection of claim 15, and of claims 16
to 26 dependent thereon, will not be sustained. We also will
not sustain the rejection of independent claims 1 and 31, and
of their dependent claims 2 to 14 and 32, since claims 1 and
31 also require tubular longitudinal members of circular
cross-section, and thus are considered patentable over the
applied prior art for the same reasons as claim 15.
Rejection (2)
Bergquist discloses a cable support system having racks
11 with upper and lower longitudinal members 13, cross members
14, and side members 17, all of the members being welded
together. The upper and lower longitudinal members of
6
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