Appeal No. 1998-1188 Page 6
Application No. 08/628,556
provided at one end with a guard or crosspiece 1 and a pair of
step members or arms 4 pivoted to the body 3 as shown in
Figure 6. In order to use the walking stick to cross a wire
fence, the guard 1 is placed over the top strand of the fence,
the foot 6 or pointed end of the body is forced into the
ground by the user exerting pressure with his or her foot on
the flange 6w and the step arms are unfolded as shown in
Figures 1 and 4. The user then steps onto the nearest arm 4,
swings his or her other leg over the fence, placing the other
foot on the further step.
Recognizing that the walking stick described in UK ‘967
is not in the field of the applicant's endeavor, the examiner
asserts that UK ‘967 is reasonably pertinent to the particular
“issue” with which the inventor was concerned (answer, page
6). To support the assertion, the examiner describes the step
member 4 as “handles.” However, as correctly pointed out by
the appellant (reply brief, page 4), the elements 4 are not
handles and the walking stick disclosed by the reference is
not intended to be planted in the ground by rotation. In
fact, UK ‘967 teaches implanting a stick or pole in the ground
using one’s weight by stepping on the plate 6w. There is
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