Appeal No. 1999-2281
Application No. 08/621,521
of U.S. Patent No. 5,041,932, the application immediately
prior to the '012 patent in the chain. Consequently, as there
are breaks in continuity in the chain, the second condition
for priority is met only back to February 4, 1994, the filing
date of Application Serial No. 08/191,967.
Last, although we agree with appellants that Figure 4 of
Hamilton '932 shows the claimed orientation of the flexure
beam, after a review of the disclosure of Application Serial
No. 08/338,394, we find that the '394 application lacks the
claimed subject matter. Therefore, at best, appellants are
entitled to an effective filing date of September 15, 1995,
the filing date of Application Serial No. 08/528,890, the
application immediately after the '394 application in the
chain. Since, Gill was filed prior to September 15, 1995, the
reference is valid as prior art against the present
application. As appellants have provided no further arguments
against the anticipation rejection, we will sustain the
rejection of claims 1, 4, 11, 12, 20, 22, and 28 under 35 USC
§ 102.
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