Appeal No. 2001-0141
Application No. 09/016,851
In regard to Capp, appellants concede (reply brief at page
2) that some “shearing” takes place presumably in the cutting
process discussed at col. 2, lines 58 to 59). In addition, it
is our view that finger 13 and adjacent contact 9 share the same
shear line prior to the pivoting of finger 13. As such, in our
view, Capp does indeed disclose the shearing step of claim 7
quoted above. Therefore, we will sustain the examiner’s
rejection of claim 7 and claims 1 through 6 and 8 through 12
which stand or fall with claim 7. However, as our rationale is
somewhat different from that on which the examiner based his
rejection, we designate this rejection as a new rejection under
37 CFR § 1.196(b).
This decision contains a new ground of rejection pursuant
to 37 CFR § 1.196(b) 37 CFR § 1.196(b) provides that, “A new
ground of rejection shall not be considered final for purposes
of judicial review.”
37 CFR § 1.196(b) also provides that the appellants, WITHIN
TWO MONTHS FROM THE DATE OF THE DECISION, must exercise one of
the following two options with respect to the new ground of
rejection to avoid termination of proceedings (§ 1.197(c)) as to
the rejected claims:
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