Appeal No. 1997-3280
Application No. 08/212,065
The examiner, twice, mislabels the phosphorescent layer
as 106 instead of 108 which appears to have led to the
misreading of the reference, thereby resulting in the final
rejection. It is
understandable how the examiner could have misinterpreted the
reference numeral due to the poor quality of the text in the
copy used by the examiner. However, the official text of
Spencer ’783 shows the correct element numbers. Clearly,
element 106 of Spencer is discussed as being a smooth light
transmittive surface of the retroreflective layer 102.
Appellants argue (brief, pg. 5) that Spencer’s invention
"does not include a fluorescent film superimposed on or
incorporated into the retroreflective member. Further, there
is nothing in the reference to suggest such superimposing or
incorporating and no secondary reference is cited to provide
such a suggestion." We agree with appellants. We do not find
that Spencer ’783 discloses an electroluminescent light source
with a retroreflective sheet superimposed on the light source
and a fluorescent film superimposed on the retroreflective
sheet, but merely the retroreflective material superimposed on
7
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007