Appeal No. 2006-3010
Application No. 10/442,288
OPINION
We have carefully considered the entire record before us, and we will
reverse the anticipation rejection of claims 1 through 7, 9 through 26, 28, 29 and
32 through 35.
Anticipation is established when a single prior art reference discloses,
expressly or under the principles of inherency, each and every element of a claimed
invention as well as disclosing structure which is capable of performing the recited
structural limitations. RCA Corp. v. Applied Digital Data Systems, Inc., 730 F.2d
1440, 1444, 221 USPQ 385, 388 (Fed. Cir. 1983).
All of the claims on appeal mark a container that already holds a sample. In
Watson (paragraph 0190), the container (i.e., the secondary tube) is marked with a
label (Figure 10, step H) prior to placing the sample into the container (Figure 10,
step I). Thus, the anticipation rejection1 of claims 1 through 7, 9 through 26, 28,
29 and 32 through 35 is reversed since Watson does not mark a container already
containing a sample.
1 Since an obviousness rejection is not before us on appeal, we will refrain from
offering our opinion as to whether it would have been obvious to the skilled artisan
to reverse steps H and I in Watson.
3
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