Appeal No. 99-0622 Page 11
Application No. 08/637,717
We note that the "connecting means" is recited as part of the
safety harness.
The examiner has identified the rear or free end (18) as
the "relatively weaker juncture," the box stitch (41) or
buckle rod (36) as the "relatively stronger juncture" and the
tether strap (42) and strip (40) as at least part of the
"connecting means" (answer, page 5). Since the "connecting
means" is defined in claim 25 as part of the safety harness,
as opposed to additional structure in combination with the
safety harness, the tether strap (42) and strip (40) must be
considered part of the harness when reading the claim on the
Leach device. Consequently, the junctures (18) and (41) or
(36) must be viewed, for comparison with the claimed
invention, as being disposed between parts of the harness
(e.g., between waistband 12 and shoulder straps 22,24 and
between strip 40 and tether strap 42 or shoulder straps 22,24,
respectively) and not between the support structure and the
harness as required by claim 25. We find only one juncture
disposed between a support structure and the harness as
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