Appeal No. 1999-1987 Page 28
Application No. 08/400,129
We sustain the rejection of claim 25 under 35 U.S.C. §
103.
Claim 25 reads as follows:
Batting practice apparatus for repeated,
rotationally-swinging presentation of a simulated ball to
a practicing batter, said apparatus comprising:
a. a flexible tether having proximal and distal
ends, said tether being comprised of a substantially
nonresilient proximal portion and a linearly resilient
distal portion;
b. a substantially spherical, mechanical
energy-absorbing mass affixed to said tether's distal
end; and,
c. a sleeve disposed in concentric relation with
said tether, and adjacent said tether's distal end,
wherein said sleeve is sufficiently durable not to be
damaged by a bat's impact, and wherein said sleeve is
further sufficiently flexible to yield when so hit and,
at once, shape-retaining, to resist wrapping around a bat
and to return immediately to a substantially linear
configuration after said bat's impact.
In applying the above-noted test for obviousness with
respect to claim 25, we reach the conclusion that it would
have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a
person having ordinary skill in the art to have (1) provided
the batting practice device of Alexander with a length of
rubber tubing or hose extending over the lower portion of
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