Appeal No. 2002-0836 Page 2
Application No. 09/264,437
1. A wellbore heater comprising:
a plurality of electrically conductive heater elements
within the wellbore, each element spaced from the other
elements and located around the circumference of the
wellbore; and
an electrically insulating filler surrounding the
elements within the wellbore; wherein a metal casing around
the heater is not present and the heater elements are not
individually electrically insulated.
The examiner relied upon the following prior art references in rejecting the
appealed claims:
Stegemeier 2,932,252 Apr. 12, 1960
Carpenter 4,199,025 Apr. 22, 1980
The following is the sole rejection before us on appeal.
Claims 1-7 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable over
Carpenter in view of Stegemeier.
Rather than reiterate the conflicting viewpoints advanced by the examiner and
the appellants regarding the above-noted rejection, we make reference to the answer
(Paper No. 13) for the examiner's complete reasoning in support of the rejection and to
the brief (Paper No. 12) for the appellants’ arguments thereagainst.
OPINION
In reaching our decision in this appeal, we have given careful consideration to
the appellants’ specification and claims, to the Carpenter and Stegemeier patents, and
to the respective positions articulated by the appellants and the examiner. For the
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007