Appeal No. 98-1694
Application 07/715,261
constitute statutory subject matter had the icon been embodied
in the display of a computer, showing the computer and the
video monitor (having the display with the icon shown thereon)
in broken lines. While this was mere dicta, and we are not
bound thereby, we would note that whereas the suggested
embodiment therein was at least directed to a computer system,
showing the computer processor and the video monitor in broken
line, wherein the icon was clearly shown on the display of a
computer, this is a far cry from appellant’s attempted
amendment, placing a mere broken line rectangle around the
icon, wherein the rectangle, albeit said to represent a
computer display, may, in reality, represent almost anything,
including, for example, a sheet of paper on which the icon is
placed. Quite clearly, a sheet of paper having the icon
imprinted thereon would not constitute patentable subject
matter under 35 U.S.C. § 171. A simple, broken, rectangular
line placed around an icon, in our view, does not, alone,
constitute an embodiment of the icon design in an article of
manufacture. In this regard, we direct attention to
Strijland, at 26 USPQ2d 1263, wherein that panel of the Board
indicated that:
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