Appeal No. 2001-1280
Application No. 07/977,163
construe claim 11 as being directed only to a rearview mirror,
including a blind-spot mirror, a principal mirror mounted to the
blind-spot mirror by means of a wedge-shaped support structure,
and a frame immediately supporting the blind-spot mirror, with
the wedge-shaped support structure and principal mirror being
oriented with respect to the blind-spot mirror such that, when
the rearview mirror is mounted to a vehicle, the thin edge of the
wedge points inward toward the vehicle. It is also worthy of
note that claim 11 is not limited to a rearview mirror for
mounting on the driver's side of a vehicle.
Consistent with our discussion, supra, the designation of
the wedge-supported mirror as the principal mirror and the mirror
supporting the wedge-shaped support structure and principal
mirror as the blind-spot mirror distinguishes the subject matter
of claim 11 from Lawson's mirror assembly, if at all, only in the
manner of intended use of the mirror assembly. Such a
distinction, as also mentioned above, cannot be relied upon to
support the patentability of the claimed product over the prior
art product.
With regard to the limitation in claim 11 that the thin edge
of the wedge point inward toward the front and opposite side of
the vehicle when mounted to a vehicle, we note that the driver's
11
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