Ex parte Tokura et al.

Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences

Oct 27, 1999

08452064 (B.P.A.I. Oct. 27, 1999)

Application for patent filed May 26, 1995. According1
to appellants, this application is a division of Application
No. 07/902,772, filed June 23, 1992, now U.S. Patent No.
5,663,220, issued September 2, 1997; which is a continuation
of Application No. 07/550,955, filed July 11, 1990, now
abandoned.
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THIS OPINION WAS NOT WRITTEN FOR PUBLICATION
The opinion in support of the decision being entered
today (1) was not written for publication in a law
journal and (2) is not binding precedent of the Board.
Paper No. 16
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
________________
BEFORE THE BOARD OF PATENT APPEALS
AND INTERFERENCES
________________
Ex parte KUNIHIKO TOKURA, MASARU URYU,
and SEIJA MATSUURA
________________
Appeal No. 1997-0498
Application No. 08/452,0641
________________
ON BRIEF
________________
Before KIMLIN, JOHN D. SMITH and WARREN, Administrative Patent
Judges.
KIMLIN, Administrative Patent Judge.
DECISION ON APPEAL
Appeal No. 1997-0498
Application No. 08/452,064
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This is an appeal from the final rejection of claims 7-9,
11 and 12, all the claims remaining in the present
application. Claim 7 is illustrative:
7. A speaker diaphragm, comprising an acoustic
vibrational material wherein the acoustic vibrational material
comprises a fiber reinforcement material and an epoxy resin
wherein 10 to 25 mole percent of the epoxy resin comprises a
polybutadiene elastomer containing not less than 90 mole
percent of 1,2-linked units, and wherein the polybutadiene
elastomer has principal chain terminals, the terminals having
functional groups selected from the group consisting of
hydroxyl, carboxyl, thiol, acid anhydride, primary amine,
secondary amine and tertiary amine, the polybutadiene
elastomer being incorporated into the molecular chains of the
epoxy resin.
The examiner relies upon the following references as
evidence of obviousness:
Graham 4,002,599 Jan. 11, 1977
Browning et al. (Browning) 4,016,022 Apr. 05, 1977
Gounder et al. (Gounder) 4,340,715 Jul. 20, 1982
Gaku et al. (Gaku) 4,780,507 Oct. 25, 1988
Makihara et al. (Japanese '794) 55-115794 Sep. 05, 1979
(Japanese Kokai patent publication)
The present application is a divisional application of
U.S. Application No. 07/902,772, filed June 23, 1992 (parent
application). An appeal was taken to this Board in the parent
application, and in a decision dated January 31, 1997, the
Board reversed the examiner's rejections under 35 U.S.C.
Appeal No. 1997-0498
Application No. 08/452,064
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§ 112, first paragraph, and 35 U.S.C. § 103. A copy of the
Board's opinion is attached to this decision.
Appeal No. 1997-0498
Application No. 08/452,064
In the Grounds of Rejection section of the Examiner's2
Answer, the examiner does not state a rejection under § 112,
first paragraph. Only an objection to the specification under
§ 112, first paragraph, is mentioned. However, since
section (13) of the Answer refers to a rejection under § 112,
first paragraph, we will treat the examiner's objection as a
rejection of the appealed claims.
Since the examiner's statement of the rejection lists3
Gaku as both a primary and secondary reference, we will review
the propriety of the examiner's § 103 rejection over the
collective teachings of the cited references.
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Appealed claims 7-9, 11 and 12 stand rejected under
35 U.S.C. § 112, first paragraph.2
Appealed claims 7-9, 11 and 12 also stand rejected under
35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Graham, Gounder,
Browning and Gaku in view of Japanese '794 and Gaku.3
For the reasons set forth in our opinion in the appeal of
the parent application, we will not sustain either of the
examiner's rejections. The issue presented in the examiner's
rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 112, first paragraph, is identical
to the one we considered in the parent application. As for
the § 103 rejection, although Browning and Gaku were not
applied in the § 103 rejection in the prior appeal, these
additional references fail to remedy the basic deficiencies of
the collective teachings of Graham, Gounder and Japanese '794
Appeal No. 1997-0498
Application No. 08/452,064
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which were articulated in the prior decision. Neither
Browning nor Gaku are directed to an acoustic vibrational
material, let alone the more specific speaker diaphragm of the
presently claimed invention.
The examiner's decision rejecting the appealed claims is
reversed.
REVERSED
EDWARD C. KIMLIN )
Administrative Patent Judge )
)
)
)
)
JOHN D. SMITH ) BOARD OF PATENT
Administrative Patent Judge ) APPEALS AND
) INTERFERENCES
)
)
)
CHARLES F. WARREN )
Administrative Patent Judge )
ECK:clm
Appeal No. 1997-0498
Application No. 08/452,064
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