Appeal No. 98-1979
Application 08/505,465
respective knobs located within a keyhole opening, the shelves
during installation being bent inwardly to locate their knobs
within the keyhole opening.
We understand claim 17, consistent with the underlying
disclosure, as requiring brace elements with keyhole
configuration openings in a side wall, in contrast with, for
example, openings in a front wall. Claim 17 also sets forth
that the claimed shelves, during installation, bend inwardly
to locate the knobs of the shelves within a keyhole opening.
As to this method recitation in article claim 17, we note that
to the extent that process limitations distinguish products
over the prior art they must be given the same consideration
as traditional product characteristics. See In re Luck, 476
F.2d 650, 653, 177 USPQ 523, 525 (CCPA 1973). With the above
principle in mind, we appreciate from our reading of the noted
method recitation that it simply denotes that the claimed
shelves have the physical characteristic of being capable of
being bent inwardly.
We turn now to the prior art applied in the rejection of
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