Appeal No. 2000-1474 Page 20
Application No. 08/962,902
After reviewing the appellant's video tape submitted with
his declaration under 37 CFR § 1.132 and the respective
positions articulated by the appellant and the examiner, we
find ourselves in agreement with the examiner that the subject
matter of claim 32 would have been obvious at the time the
invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the
art. In that regard, we first point out that the subject
matter of claim 31 is anticipated by Mueller for the reasons
provided above with respect to claim 1. Second,
notwithstanding that Mueller fails to disclose the diameters
of the front and rear wheels or the length and width of the
platform, it is our opinion that appropriate diameters, length
and width are obvious matters of designer's choice.
Accordingly, we believe that it would have been obvious at the
time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill
in the art to modify Mueller's scooter to include (1) front
and rear wheels having diameters from about 16 to about 20
inches, and (2) a platform having a width of about 8 to about
10 inches and a length of about 24 to about 27 inches. See In
re Woodruff, 919 F.2d 1575, 1578, 16 USPQ2d 1934, 1936 (Fed.
Cir. 1990) which provided that:
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