Appeal No. 2000-2293
Application No. 08/685,162
See also In re Fine, 837 F.2d 1071, 1074, 5 USPQ2d 1596, 1598
(Fed. Cir. 1988).
Based on these well-settled principles, we disagree with the
Examiner that, because Kawamura’s holding hooks 20 elastically
fit around a naked disc or on holding notches of a disc
cartridge, the hooks constitute the break-away mechanism for
preventing damage to the disc holding tray. The Examiner’s
position is that the elastic holding hooks of Kawamura form a
break away mechanism that is inherently adapted for preventing
damage to the disc holding tray and may be combined with the
rotating hinge of Sasaki. Although Sasaki discloses a tilting
disc holding tray, the Examiner has failed to establish why one
of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to use
the holding hooks of Kawamura with the disk table of Sasaki.
Even if the Examiner is contending that holding hooks 20 of
Kawamura prevent damage to the inserted disc or the cartridge,
such protection is available only when the disc or the cartridge
is inserted in the housing. The holding hooks, at best, prevent
damage to the tray from its own lateral movement, but not from
external force when the disc supporting portion of the tray is
extended from the housing. Kawamura, in fact, merely discloses a
mechanism having elastic hooks for receiving a disc or a
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