Appeal No. 2002-0095
Application No. 09/378,051
finger opening, a second finger gripping member adjacent the
first finger opening and directly opposing and being different
than the first finger gripping member, a third finger gripping
member adjacent the second finger opening, a fourth finger
gripping member adjacent the second finger opening and directly
opposing and being different than the third finger gripping
member.
The examiner’s position is that claims 7 and 13 are
anticipated by the Bernhardt reference (the ‘061 patent). In
particular, the examiner points out that the reference shows a
tubular body (insert) 96 (Figs. 14 through 18) and teaches,
starting at column 7, line 27, that inserts can be “configured
differently than the symmetrical arrangement disclosed.”
Appellant argues (main brief, page 5) that, with the present
invention, opposing gripping members of each pair are different
and that “[t]his is not explicitly illustrated in the ‘061
patent.” In the reply brief (page 2), it is asserted that
appellant (Bernhardt), the inventor of the applied Bernhardt
reference, did not consider having “four different gripping
surfaces” and designed the opposing gripping surfaces as the same
“as is shown in the ‘061 patent.”
6
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007