of “plane of approximate symmetry”, where the “plane of
approximate symmetry” is the same as the longitudinal median
plane of Bourdeau claim 27 (the count). While Fig. 10 does
appear to show a pair of boots where each boot has a plane of
approximate symmetry which is the same as the longitudinal
median plane, the figure is a mere abstract representation for
illustrating the Okajima page 9 definition of the “plane of
approximate symmetry”, as further discussed below.
Okajima’s Fig. 10 shows two ellipses representing a pair
of boots. There is nothing in Okajima’s specification to
indicate that the ellipses are actual designs of snowboard
boots, where the front and rear widths of the boots are the
same. Bourdeau has not sufficiently explained, or
established, why one of ordinary skill in the art would not
view the ellipses of Okajima’s Fig. 10 as an illustration for
how the “plane of approximate symmetry” is determined. The
illustration of Fig. 10 would be similar to the situation
where the snowboard boots were represented by two rectangles.
Such a figure would not convey that the snowboard boots are
actually in the shape of rectangles. Rather, we believe that
one of ordinary skill in the art would interpret such a
drawing to be illustrative of the concept to be conveyed, e.g.
how to determine the “plane of approximate symmetry” for each
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