Appeal No. 97-0394
Application 08/353,083
medial knuckle 24 and a proximal thumb joint 26 which
attaches the thumb to a bowler’s hand. Thumb pad 10
includes a thin, distal portion 28 and a slightly
thicker foam pad portion 30. The distal end 32 of foam
pad portion 30 is located longitudinally behind medial
knuckle 24 of thumb 18. Further, foam pad portion 30
is positioned laterally intermediate medial knuckle 24
and proximal thumb joint 26. . . .
It is known that the medial knuckle of some
bowler’s [sic] develop calluses due to rubbing of the
knuckle on the interior side of a bowling ball thumb
hole. These calluses and the friction developed
between the back side of the thumb and the interior
surface of the thumb hole distracts the bowler and
affects the bowler’s ability to control the bowling
ball during the swing and release of the ball down the
alley. The placement of a cushioning pad in a thumb
insert intermediate the medial knuckle and the proximal
thumb joint enables the bowler to better grip the
bowling ball, reduces the friction between the bowler’s
thumb and the thumb hole, and further reduces and
sometimes eliminates the callus formed on the medial
knuckle of the bowler’s thumb [column 2, line 57
through column 3, line 21].
Anticipation is established only when a single prior art
reference discloses, expressly or under principles of inherency,
each and every element of a claimed invention. RCA Corp. v.
Applied Digital Data Systems, Inc., 730 F.2d 1440, 1444, 221 USPQ
385, 388 (Fed. Cir. 1984).
In the present case, independent claim 1 recites a bowling
ball comprising, inter alia, “a finger tip positioner protruding
-3-
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