Ex parte BRIGHT et al. - Page 9




          Appeal No. 98-1900                                                          
          Application D-07/715,260                                                    



          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 appellants’ 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 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:                       
               It should be noted, however, we do not think that                      
               merely illustrating a picture displayed on the                         
               screen of a computer or other display device, such                     
               as a television or movie screen, is sufficient,                        
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