Appeal No. 98-1897 Application No. 07/715,144 While not having the force of law, this dicta was the subject of the Guidelines for Examination of Design Patent Applications for Computer-Generated Icons (Guidelines), 1185 O.G. 60 (April 16, 1996) and incorporated into MPEP 1504.01. Since an icon, per se, as depicted in the instant case, as originally filed, is a mere picture, not part of any embodiment of an article of manufacture, the examiner quite properly, and in accordance with Strijland and the Guidelines, rejected the design claim for “The ornamental design for a KEYBOARD INPUT ICON FOR A COMPUTER DISPLAY OR THE LIKE as shown and described” as being directed to nonstatutory subject matter under 35 U.S.C. 171. 3 Unfortunately for appellants, Strijland was decided after the filing of this application. So, in a valiant effort to comply with Strijland and the Guidelines, appellants amended the title of the application to “Computer Display With Keyboard Input Icon” and amended the claim to read, “The 3This claim would also be properly rejectable under 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph, for the reasons set forth in Strijland, at 26 USPQ2d 1262 regarding the language “OR THE LIKE.” 4Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 NextLast modified: November 3, 2007