Appeal No. 2000-1232
Application 09/114,954
Claim 24 is reproduced below:
24. A disc drive, comprising:
a rotatable disc; and
limit means for limiting deflection of the disc in response
to application of a non-operational shock to the disc drive.
The reference relied upon by the examiner is:
Alt 5,422,770 June 6, 1995
The most recent prosecution history of claim 24 is
problematic. Page 3 of the final rejection included a rejection
of claim 24 under 35 U.S.C. § 102(e) as being anticipated by Alt.
In a responsive amendment filed under 37 CFR § 1.116 on June 11,
1999, appellants attempted to cancel claim 24. This amendment
contains a handwritten notation to the left-center portion of
page 1 from the examiner indicating that the amendment would be
entered upon a filing of a Notice of Appeal and an appeal brief.
The substance of the Advisory Action mailed on June 21, 1999, in
Paper No. 11 is consistent with this handwritten notation,
further indicating that only claims 18-23 remained for purposes
of appeal. As explained at the top of page 4 of the brief,
appellants consider that the examiner has refused entry of the
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