Appeal No. 2001-0090 Page 5
Application No. 08/893,890
OPINION
In reaching our decision in this appeal, we have given
careful consideration to the appellant's specification and
claims, to the applied prior art, and to the respective
positions articulated by the appellant and the examiner. Upon
evaluation of all the evidence before us, it is our conclusion
that the evidence adduced by the examiner is insufficient to
establish a prima facie case of obviousness with respect to
claim 1 under appeal. Accordingly, we will not sustain the
examiner's rejection of claim 1 under 35 U.S.C. § 103. Our
reasoning for this determination follows.
The Admitted Prior Art clearly teaches all the
limitations of claim 1 except for "a discontinuity formed in
the outer surface of the center portion."
Bescoby's invention relates in particular to an apparatus
and method for providing a cooled bearing surface for a
ceramic shaft. Figure 1 perspectively shows a ceramic shaft
12 having a plurality of fins 14 extending radially outward
from a central portion thereof. A bearing runner 16 in the
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007