Appeal No. 1999-0434
Application No. 08/664,257
not have suggested replacing the first jacket layer in Odhner's cable with PVC material, as
contemplated by the rejection.2
In addition, appellant has referred to evidence in the record that the PVDF material
disclosed by Odhner has a dielectric constant of 4.9 and a dissipation factor of 0.30 "at
high frequencies." A product data sheet submitted by appellant in an Information
Disclosure Statement filed July 24, 1997 in the instant case refers to "Solef PVDF"
fluorocopolymer, disclosing material specifications consistent with appellant's averment.
Since the examiner has supplied no evidence to the contrary, nor convincingly explained
how the claim 30 specified quantities with respect to the insulation layers might be
disclosed or suggested by the references, we cannot sustain the rejection of claim 30 for
this additional reason.
Unlike claim 30, instant claim 31 does not require a "metallic shield surrounding
said first jacket layer." In the rejection of claim 31 set forth on pages 8 and 9 of the
Answer, the examiner offers the combination of Odhner in view of Schwarcz in substantially
the same way as applied against claim 30. For the same reasons that we have found that
2The rejection relies on replacing the "first jacket layer" in Odhner's cable. However, in view of
Odhner's description, the "first jacket layer" could fairly be deemed to comprise a material "having flame-
resistant and smoke-suppressive properties," at least within the disclosed environment. Flame-resistance
and smoke-suppression are the reasons for Odhner's contribution to the art, and Odhner teaches careful
selection of the disclosed material for the "first jacket layer" in reaching those goals. However, even though
our reading of the claims may be somewhat less restrictive than the examiner's, we consider the claims to
be patentable over the references for reasons unrelated to the material comprising the "first jacket layer."
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