Appeal No. 2003-0387 Page 2
Application No. 09/772,275
BACKGROUND
The appellant's invention relates to "three-piece" railroad car trucks, and more
particularly to the four friction wedges that interface the bolster with the side frame and
provide suspension damping and warp stiffness (specification, p. 1). A copy of the
claims under appeal is set forth in the appendix to the appellant's brief.
Claims 1 to 6 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over
U.S. Patent No. 4,244,2982 to Hawthorne et al. (Hawthorne).
Rather than reiterate the conflicting viewpoints advanced by the examiner and
the appellant regarding the above-noted rejection, we make reference to the answer
(Paper No. 16, mailed May 9, 2002) for the examiner's complete reasoning in support of
the rejection, and to the brief (Paper No. 11, filed January 24, 2002) and reply brief
(Paper No. 17, filed July 10, 2002) for the appellant's arguments thereagainst.
OPINION
In reaching our decision in this appeal, we have given careful consideration to
the appellant's specification and claims, to the applied prior art reference, and to the
respective positions articulated by the appellant and the examiner. Upon evaluation of
2 Issued January 13, 1981.
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