Appeal No. 1998-0122
Application No. 08/548,365
Claim 14 stands rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as
unpatentable over Bach '309 in view of Yamamoto and Bach '543.
The Bach '543 patent teaches the use of tendons for additional
reinforcement of the cellular structure. According to the
examiner, it would have been obvious to use such tendons in
the cellular structure of Bach '309 modified according to the
Yamamoto teaching.
OPINION
We have carefully reviewed the rejections on appeal in
light of the arguments of the appellant and the examiner. As
a result of this review, we have reached the conclusion that
the applied prior art does not establish a prima facie case of
obviousness with respect to the rejections on appeal.
Therefore these rejections are reversed. Our reasons follow.
As an initial matter, we find it necessary to construe
the scope of claim 8, the independent claim on appeal.
Initially, we note the following quotation from appellant's
brief:
The key to the difference between Appellant's
invention and Yamamoto is in the fill material used
in combination with the web to form the complete
structure. As claimed by Appellant, the fill
material is stones which have diameters in excess of
3
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