Appeal No. 97-2222
Application 08/380,661
v. Int’l Trade Comm’n, 126 F.3d 1473, 1477, 44 USPQ2d 1358,
1361 (Fed. Cir. 1997)); however, the law of anticipation does
not require that the reference teach what the appellant is
claiming, but only that the claims on appeal "read on"
something disclosed in the reference (see Kalman v. Kimberly-
Clark Corp., 713 F.2d 760, 772, 218 USPQ 781, 789 (Fed. Cir.
1983), cert. denied, 465 U.S. 1026 (1984)).
It is true that in Atwell the elongated elements or nails
1, 2 are only temporarily secured to the “plate-shaped bodies”
or bars 5, 6 or 11 and do not form a part of the “nail
element” in its final assembled state. We must point out,
however, there is no claim limitation which would preclude
Atwell’s arrangement and it is well settled that features not
claimed may not be relied upon in support of patentability.
In re Self, 671 F.2d 1344, 1348, 213 USPQ 1, 5 (CCPA 1982).
That is, independent claim 12 only broadly requires that the
plurality of elongated elements be “fixedly secured” against
the lateral edges of the plate-shaped body, and the mere fact
that the bars or plate-shaped bodies 5, 6 or 11 of Atwell are
described as being “lightly secured,” does not preclude them
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