Appeal No. 98-1532
Application No. 08/438,533
than the lack thereof (see In re Sovish, 769 F.2d 738, 742,
226 USPQ 771, 774 (Fed. Cir. 1985)).
Leite is directed to a “shield” for a sprinkler in a lawn
system, the function of which is to “afford protection and
minimize vegetation growth about the sprinkler head” (column
1, lines 9 and 10). The nature of the “protection” provided
by the inventive shield to the sprinkler head is not
explained. The shield is described as “a rigid cylindrical
plate 11 including a planar top surface 12 spaced from and
parallel to a planar bottom surface 13,” which has a central
bore 15 with a plurality of radial slots 16 extending from the
bore “to effect flexure in the plate construction in
accommodating a sprinkler head to be received therethrough.”
A plurality of frangible grooves 17 are provided in the plate
to permit segments to be broken off so that the device can be
fitted to corner and edge installations. See column 3, lines
36-53. The plate is anchored by a plurality of spikes 14.
Block discloses a sprinkler “guard” which comprises a
pair of interrelated elements 5 and 6 that together define a
dome-shaped plate having a central aperture through which a
sprinkler head 1 extends. See Figure 2. The primary purpose
5
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