Appeal No. 2005-0487
Application No. 09/961,821
predetermined speed relative to the cylinder. Similarly,
independent claim 6 recites a piston-cylinder assembly
comprising, inter alia, an elastically deformable valve ring
having a corrugated profile facing a flow-through opening wherein
the corrugated profile deforms toward the opening to at least
partially seal it off when the piston rod exceeds a predetermined
speed relative to the cylinder.
In rejecting claims 1 and 6, the examiner applies the
embodiment shown in Figures 20 through 22 of the Ludwig reference
against claim 1 and the embodiment shown in Figures 5 through 9
of the Ludwig reference against claim 6. Conceding that Ludwig’s
description of these respective embodiments does not expressly
meet the claim limitations noted above, the examiner nonetheless
submits that at high enough extension stroke speeds it is obvious
that the Ludwig O-rings would deform in the manner specified in
the claims (see pages 4 through 6 in the final rejection).
Although couched in terms of obviousness, the examiner’s
determination that Ludwig responds to the subject limitations in
claims 1 and 6 actually rests on a finding of inherency, i.e.,
that Ludwig’s O-rings inherently would deform in the manner
specified if the speed of the piston rod were high enough. Under
principles of inherency, when a reference is silent about an
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