Appeal No. 1997-2878
Application No. 08/287,505
our view, neither Dola nor Dellinger, or the combination
thereof, discloses or suggests certain claim limitations.
Both claims 1 and 29 require a hinged cover member and
that this cover member be “free from apertures communicating
with the interior of said base member.” The cover of Dola has
an aperture, viz., keyhole 95, and the cover member of
Dellinger has an aperture through which screw 22 is inserted.
Thus, neither of these references has a cover member “free
from apertures...” The examiner indicates that once key 97 in
Dola or screw 22 in Dellinger is inserted into the respective
apertures, there is no longer an aperture for the aperture in
each case is sealed. The examiner’s approach is certainly
creative and has a certain logic to it but, after careful
consideration, we simply cannot agree with the examiner. If
the claims had merely stated that the cover was weathertight
or completely sealed, the examiner’s case may have been
stronger. But, the claims call for the cover to be “free from
apertures...” No matter that the apertures are covered over
in Dola and Dellinger, the fact remains that the cover members
of these prior art devices still contain apertures, albeit
covered, and, accordingly, they are not “free from apertures,”
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