Appeal No. 2005-2488
Application No. 10/150,497
unpatentable over the combined disclosures of Beerwerth and
O’Hara; and
2. Claims 3 and 4 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as unpatentable
over the combined disclosures of Beerwerth, O’Hara and Meyst.
OPINION
We have carefully reviewed the claims, specification and
prior art references, including all of the arguments advanced by
both the examiner and the appellant in support of their
respective positions. This review has led us to conclude that
the examiner’s Section 103 rejections are not well-founded.
Accordingly, we reverse the examiner’s Sections 103 rejections.
Our reasons for these determinations follow.
As is apparent from the examiner’s finding at page 3 of the
Answer, Beerwerth teaches a probe for an infrared clinical
thermometer having a plastic outer wall 102 corresponding to the
claimed cylindrical trunk section and a thin film window 103
corresponding to the claimed thin film section. See also
Beerwerth, columns 6 and 7, together Beerwerth, Figure 1.
According to column 6, lines 49-55, of Beerwerth, the window
103 can be made with various materials, including polyethylene,
polypropylene or copolymers thereof. Consistent with the
teachings of Beerwerth, O’Hara teaches using both the outer wall
3
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