Appeal No. 2003-1416 Page 5
Application No. 09/819,549
We need not discuss the merits of EMBASE 969 as this reference was cited as evidence
of obviousness with respect to the additional limitations of claims 17-24 and those claims stand
or fall with claim 14.
We conclude that the Examiner has established a prima facie case of unpatentability with
respect to the subject matter of claims 14-24 which has not been sufficiently rebutted by
Appellants.
CONCLUSION
To summarize, the decision of the Examiner to reject claims 14-24 as unpatentable is
affirmed, but we designate our affirmance as involving a new ground of rejection.
This decision contains a new ground of rejection pursuant to 37 CFR § 1.196(b)(amended
effective Dec. 1, 1997, by final rule notice, 62 Fed. Reg. 53,131, 53,197 (Oct. 10, 1997), 1203
Off. Gaz. Pat. & Trademark Office 63, 122 (Oct. 21, 1997)). 37 CFR § 1.196(b) provides that
"[a] new ground of rejection shall not be considered final for purposes of judicial review."
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007