Appeal No. 2006-0178
Application No. 09/877,188
to regard this belief as nothing more than conjecture, speculation or assumption on the
examiner’s part. It has long been settled that a Section 103 rejection must rest on a factual basis
rather than conjecture, speculation or assumption. In re Warner, 379 F.2d 1011, 1017,
154 USPQ 173, 178 (CCPA 1967); cert. denied, 389 U.S. 1057 (1968).
Under these circumstances, it is clear that the examiner’s factual finding and consequent
obviousness conclusion are improper with respect to the steering shaft disposition claimed by the
appellants.
As for the here claimed feature wherein the steering position is forward of the forward-
most drive track axle, we fully share the examiner’s finding that Figure 3 of Christensen
unquestionably shows this feature. The appellants’ contrary view is vitiated by their own
annotation of Figure 3 which appears on page 26 of their brief. Moreover, the definition of
steering position at paragraph [0041] on specification page 8 militates for the examiner’s finding,
rather than against it as argued by appellants. That is, when Christensen’s steering position is
considered to be the center of the handlebar grips (i.e., when the skis are positioned straight-
forward) in accordance with the specification definition, it is clear (particularly when viewing
appellants’ annotation of patentee’s Figure 3) that the steering position of Christensen’s steering
handle 10 is disposed forward of the forward-most drive track axle.2
2 This interpretation of the claim phrase “steering position” is perhaps the most narrow provided by the appellants’
specification. Of course, during examination proceedings, claims are given their broadest reasonable interpretation
consistent with the specification. In re Hyatt, 211 F.3d 1367, 1372, 54 USPQ2d 1664, 1667 (Fed. Cir. 2000). When
so interpreted, the here claimed steering position would include the center stem portion of Christensen’s handlebars
since this stem is located at “the center of [i.e., the center between] the grips of the handlebars” (specification, page
8, paragraph [0041], last line). Under such an interpretation, the propriety of the examiner’s finding cannot be
gainsaid.
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