Appeal No. 1999-2444
Application 08/842,088
THE PRIOR ART
The references relied upon by the examiner as evidence
of obviousness are:
Fukuoka et al. (Fukuoka) 5,460,555 Oct. 24, 1995
Tsunoda et al. (Tsunoda) 5,687,688 Nov. 18, 1997
THE REJECTION
Claims 16, 17 and 20 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C.
§ 103(a) as being unpatentable over Fukuoka in view of
Tsunoda.
Attention is directed to the appellants’ main and reply
briefs (Paper Nos. 12 and 14) and to the examiner’s answer
(Paper No. 13) for the respective positions of the
appellants and the examiner with regard to the merits of
this rejection.
DISCUSSION
Fukuoka, the examiner’s primary reference, discloses a
lubrication system for an outboard motor engine. The V-
type, four-cycle engine 12 shown in Figures 1 through 32
2Fukuoka also discloses an essentially similar in-line version of the engine
(see Figure 4).
3
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