Appeal No. 97-1952
Application 08/289,068
panels. As argued by appellant on page 6 of the brief, the
paneling (89) of McMurtrie seen in Figure 8 as carrying a grab
bar (unnumbered) is not disclosed as being modular, removable,
or interchangeable and is not itself disclosed as being
comprised of any such modular, removable, or interchangeable
panels.3
Based on the foregoing, we conclude that McMurtrie does
anticipate the subject matter of appellant’s claims 1, 2, 5,
6, 10 and 11 on appeal, but not the subject matter of claim 13
on appeal. It follows that the examiner’s rejection of claims
1, 2, 5, 6, 10 and 11 under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) will be
sustained, while the rejection of claim 13 under 35 U.S.C. §
102(b) will not.
We next look to the examiner’s rejection of claims 3, 4,
7 through 9, 12, 14 and 35 through 37 under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as
being unpatentable over McMurtrie in view of Chiaramonte.
However, we direct the examiner’s and appellant’s attention to the3
applied Smith patent (4,987,619) Figure 10, wherein a modular, removable grab
bar panel (18b) is shown associated with a bathing unit, and suggest that it
may well have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to form the
paneling (89) of McMurtrie in the manner taught in Smith to thereby obtain the
advantages disclosed in Smith (col. 1, lines 38-43).
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