Appeal No. 2002-1487 Page 3
Application No. 09/404,461
Rather than reiterate the conflicting viewpoints advanced by the examiner and
the appellants regarding the above-noted rejections, we make reference to the answer
(Paper No. 16, mailed January 24, 2002) for the examiner's complete reasoning in
support of the rejections, and to the brief (Paper No. 15, filed November 19, 2001) and
reply brief (Paper No. 17, filed March 25, 2002) 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 applied prior art references, and to the
respective positions articulated by the appellants and the examiner. As a consequence
of our review, we make the determinations which follow.
The anticipation rejection
We will not sustain the rejection of claims 1 to 3, 5 and 10 under 35 U.S.C.
§ 102(b) as being anticipated by Trott.
A claim is anticipated only if each and every element as set forth in the claim is
found, either expressly or inherently described, in a single prior art reference.
Verdegaal Bros. Inc. v. Union Oil Co., 814 F.2d 628, 631, 2 USPQ2d 1051, 1053 (Fed.
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