Appeal No. 2005-1380
Application No. 09/944,314
According to appellants, the invention is directed to
preventing a hearing instrument from slipping out of the ear and
creating an outward appearance that blends with the wearer’s ear
by giving a textured, non-smooth finish to the outer surface of a
hearing instrument shell (Brief, page 2).
Appellants state that the claims fall “roughly” into three
groups (Brief, page 3). However, as correctly stated by the
examiner (Answer, page 3, paragraph (7)), the claims stand or
fall together since appellants have not positively stated that
the claims do not stand or fall together nor have they presented
specific, substantive reasons for the separate patentability of
individual claims. See 37 CFR § 1.192(c)(7)(2003); In re
McDaniel, 293 F.3d 1379, 1383, 63 USPQ2d 1462, 1465 (Fed. Cir.
2002). Accordingly, we select claim 1 as the broadest
representative independent claim and decide the first six
rejections on the basis of this claim alone. We select claim
6 from the grouping of claims in the rejection based on 35 U.S.C.
§ 103(a). Representative independent claim 1 is reproduced
below:
1. Imparting a texture to a hearing instrument shell.
2
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007