Appeal No. 2001-1402
Application 09/287,838
unpatentable over Handzlik, under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a).
Rejection (1)
Claim 1 reads:
1. An accessory in combination with a shoe of the type
having a toe portion, a heel portion, and a transversely
extending closure disposed therebetween, comprising:
a figurine configured to stand erect on a floor
surface; and
a means for releasably securing the figurine to the
closure on the shoe.
Meier discloses a shoe having a toe, heel, and closure
(laces) therebetween. Attached to the laces by holes 16
through which the laces extend is an enclosure 1 having hinged
top and bottom portions 4, 3. A molded figure 2, shown as a
clown’s head in Fig. 1 but disclosed as possibly being a
Disney animated character or other popular children’s figure
(col. 2, lines 56 to 61) is provided on top portion 4. The
examiner takes the position that claim 1 is anticipated
because Meier’s figure 2 is a figurine which will stand erect
on a floor surface when removed from the shoe. Appellant
argues that Meier’s clown’s head 2 is not a figurine, since it
does not include a representation of a body; that it is not
3
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