Ex Parte Asada - Page 9




               Appeal No. 2006-2169                                                                         Page 9                  
               Application No. 09/899,919                                                                                           


                                                     a. Claim Construction                                                          
                       Claim 1 further recites in pertinent part the following limitations: "a plate-like                           
               portion having a positioning slit between blade portions, the positioning slit having a                              
               width slightly smaller than a diameter of said optical fiber cord, each of the blade                                 
               portions being formed by a side edge of said positioning slit joined at a right angle to a                           
               distal end edge of said plate-like portion. . . ."  Giving the representative claim the                              
               broadest, reasonable construction, the limitations require a pair of legs defining an                                
               opening and that the aforementioned blade parts be formed by a side edge of the                                      
               opening joined at a right angle to an edge of the legs.                                                              


                                                b. Obviousness Determination                                                        
                       "All that is required to show obviousness is that the claimed invention would have                           
               been made obvious by applying knowledge clearly present in the prior art."  In re Rau,                               
               838 F.2d 1223 (tbl.), 1988 WL 5131 (Fed. Cir. 1988) (citing In re Shekler, 438 F.2d 999,                             
               1001, 168 USPQ 716, 717 (CCPA 1971); In re Winslow, 365 F.2d 1017, 1020, 151                                         
               USPQ 48, 50-51 (CCPA 1966)) (unpublished).                                                                           


                       Here, van Woesik "relates to a fibre [sic] optic connector for optically connecting                          
               first and second optical fibres [sic]. . . ."  (Col. 1, ll. 8-9.)  More specifically, the "fibre                     
               optics connector 2 (FIGS. 15 and 16) comprises a connector housing 4, an intermediate                                








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