Appeal No. 2006-1281 Page 7
Application No. 09/926,029
on the opposite end side. As best seen in Figure 5, the grooves 7 extend only part-way
into the wall of the winding core.
Much like the appellant’s specification, there is no indication in either Watanabe
or Kanai that the core 5 of Watanabe or 1 of Kanai is made from a non-homogeneous
material. Accordingly, the examiner’s determination that it would have been obvious to
form the cores from a single substantially uniform (i.e., homogeneous) material for
reasons of efficiency since there is nothing in the references to suggest the need to do
otherwise (answer, page 6) is well-reasoned. Just as in the case of appellant’s
disclosure, we find that one of ordinary skill in the art would have immediately
envisioned that the thinner regions of the grooves 5a of Watanabe or 7 of Kanai would
have increased flexibility relative to the portions of the wall between the grooves. The
appellant’s argument thus is unpersuasive of any error on the part of the examiner in
rejecting claims 8 and 9 under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over the applied
references. The rejection is sustained.
CONCLUSION
To summarize, the rejection of claims 8 and 9 under the first paragraph of 35
U.S.C. § 112 is reversed and the rejection of claims 8 and 9 under 35 U.S.C. § 103 is
sustained. A rejection of each of the claims on appeal having been sustained, the
decision of the examiner is AFFIRMED.
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