Appeal No. 1999-2131 Page 20
Application No. 08/971,504
the other art of record, it would have been obvious to one of
ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made
to modify Drake's thrust bearing element by providing that
Drake's superalloy material be a stellite material, such as
stellite 6, as taught by Childers or a wear resistant
material, such as stellite 6B, as taught by Du Mond.
The examiner should also review the present claims 1-74
to determine if any of the claims recite the same invention as
described in claims 1-27 of the appellants' prior U.S. Patent
No. 5,725,313. For example, does claim 3 of the present
application and claim 19 of the '313 patent recite the same
invention?
CONCLUSION
To summarize, the decision of the examiner to reject
claims 1 through 74 for obviousness-type double patenting is
affirmed; the decision of the examiner to reject claims 1
through 74 under 35 U.S.C. § 103 is reversed; and this
application is remanded for consideration of the matters
discussed supra.
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