Appeal No. 96-2476
Application 07/890,785
in the reference rotates about two axes whereas the claim
requires that it be "constrained for rotation about only a
first axis" (emphasis added). The examiner's reply to this
assertion is that the Liberkowski wheel pivots, but does not
rotate, about the second axis. We agree with the appellant
and therefore will not sustain the rejection of this claim or
of those that depend from it.
While one might dwell upon intricacies of the definitions
of the verbs "rotate" and "pivot" in order to make a case for
them being different, a reasonable view is that there is an
overlap. That is, to rotate an object is to turn it around an
axis, which is defined as a line about which a rotating body
turns, and to pivot an object is to turn it about a pivot,
which is defined as a point around which an object rotates or
oscillates. From our perspective, therefore, the wheel of2
the Liberkowski skate is rotatable about a first axis Z1-Z1
and a second axis X-X
2 See The Random House College Dictionary, Revised
Edition, 1980, pages 95, 1013, and 1148.
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