Appeal No. 97-0394
Application 08/353,083
page 1). Claim 1 is illustrative and reads as follows:
1. A bowling ball for positioning a finger in a finger
hole; comprising:
a substantially cylindrical finger hole having an interior
wall and a length adapted to receive a fingertip portion of a
finger, said fingertip portion comprising the portion of a finger
from the first knuckle to the end of the finger, including a
fingernail and finger pad portion; and
a fingertip positioner protruding into said finger hole and
adapted to position a finger to grip said bowling ball with the
pad portion of said finger pressed against said interior wall of
the finger hole when the finger is positioned in said finger hole
with the fingernail of the finger in contacting relationship with
the fingertip positioner,
wherein in use, the fingertip portion of a finger is placed
in said finger hole with the fingernail of said finger in
contacting relationship with said fingertip positioner such that
said pad portion of said finger is positioned to grip the
interior wall of the finger hole.
The reference relied upon by the examiner as evidence of
anticipation is:
Rowland 5,261,660 Nov. 16, 1993
Claims 1 through 8 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b)
as being anticipated by Rowland.
Rowland pertains to a pad adapted to be inserted into the
thumb hole of a bowling ball. As described by Rowland,
FIG. 1 illustrates thumb pad 10 disposed on the
interior side wall 12 defining a thumb hole 14 of a
bowling ball which is shown in cross section as bowling
ball portion 16. Thumb 18 is also disposed in thumb
hole 14. Thumb 18 includes a palm side 20 and a
backside 22 opposite palm side 20. Thumb 18 includes a
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Last modified: November 3, 2007