Court Opinion

ID: 9450615
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 16:53:18.896927+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:32:23.662194
License: Public Domain

MARTIN, Justice
(concurring).
I agree with the majority opinion except insofar as it finds a section 102 rejection in the board’s decision. I do not think the board’s passing reference to In re Petering, 301 F.2d 676, 49c CPA 993, i. e., by following Petering claims 1 and 2 “can even be said to be anticipated,” can properly be taken as a section 102 rejection. If the board meant such a passing comment to be a rejection under section 102, it should have so stated.
As the majority opinion notes, the examiner and solicitor restrict themselves to the view that the rejection is one of obviousness under section 103. In connection with the obviousness rejection, In re Petering, supra, is correctly cited by the majority since the second issue in that case was one of obviousness. The board affirmed “the decision of the Examiner rejecting the claims * * Appellants did not notify this court in their reasons of appeal of any appeal from an affirmance of a rejection based on section 102.
Thus, as the author of the Petering case, I must view as dictum the discussion in the majority opinion, under the heading “The Board’s Own Anticipation Rejection,” of that portion of In re Petering which relates to the section 102 issue. The appeal before us does not present a clear opportunity to indicate either the limits of the Petering case or its place within the scope of enabling diselosures of section 102.