Appeal No. 2004-0890
Application No. 09/754,291 Page 6
It is important to note that representative claim 1 does not
call for any particular type of heating element or any particular
heating element structural features. In this regard, appellant’s
specification (page 2) discloses that a resistance heating
element and a source of heat such as electricity or a carrier
substrate heating element and a chemical composition as a source
of heat may preferably be used. While representative claim 1 is
not limited to either of those described disparate preferred
embodiments, it is clear therefrom that the claimed heating
element includes any type of structure that may be secured to a
bottom edge of the claimed snow plow blade so long as that
structure represents a source of heat. Representative claim 1
requires that such a heating element is secured along only a
bottom edge of the snow plow blade.
Both Kim and Clements teach or suggest that adding heat to a
cleaning edge of an ice scraper enhances removal of ice from
surfaces such as a windshield by softening or loosening the ice.
Kim (column 1, lines 10-19) also discloses that the use of heated
blades on sidewalks and highway surfaces was known in the prior
art.
Given those prior art disclosures, we agree with the
examiner that it would have been prima facie obvious to one of
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