Appeal No. 1998-2482
Application No. 08/533,429
However, that being said, a reference is good for all that it teaches and in Figure
3B, Hadley shows the flexible gasket strip, per se, without any application in a groove.
Independent claim 1 merely requires a “gasket system,” of which the flexible gasket of
Hadley is one, and that gasket system must have “a pair of deflectable leg members
disposed relative to each other to cause said leg members to deflect away from each
other.” The flexible gasket member shown in Figure 3B of Hadley clearly meets that
limitation. Without a groove to impede the movement, from the shape of Hadley’s gasket,
it is clear that pressure from the top down on the gasket will cause the legs of the gasket to
“deflect away from each other,” as claimed. The remainder of claim 1 merely recites that
the legs are deflected away from each other “when said gasket system is positioned
between two opposing substrates and the substrates are drawn together so that said leg
members provide dual contact with one of the substrates to substantially attenuate
electromagnetic interference across said gasket system.” Accordingly, this remaining
language sets forth no positive defining structure. The gasket of Hadley is clearly for the
purpose of shielding components from electromagnetic interference. Since the claim
recites what will happen “when” the gasket is positioned between two substrates, but does
not recite the specifics of the intended structure, it is clear that Hadley’s gasket will also act
in the same way “when” it is placed between two substrates and those substrates are
drawn together.
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