Appeal No. 2002-0161 Page 3
Application No. 09/348,615
support of the rejections and to the brief (Paper No. 14) for the appellant's arguments
thereagainst.
OPINION
In reaching our decision in this appeal, we have given careful consideration to
the appellant's specification and claims, to the applied prior art references, and to the
respective positions articulated by the appellant and the examiner. As a consequence
of our review, we make the determinations which follow.
Claim 13, the sole independent claim on appeal, reads as follows:
13. An article of furniture comprising a base, a work surface
fixedly mounted to said base, having a recess with given
length and width dimensions, a solid state computer display
with a viewing screen, said display having a front surface
comprising the screen and a substantially planar rear
surface having substantially said given length and width
dimensions and means for mounting said display for
movement relative to said work surface between a storage
position, wherein said display is within said recess and said
rear display surface is substantially co-planar with said
work surface, and a viewing position, wherein said display
is inclined relative to and situated at least partially above
said work surface.
Appellant contends that the means limitation, which we have italicized above for
emphasis, is not met by Lechman and that the subject matter of claim 13 is therefore
not anticipated2 by Lechman. On page 3 of the answer, the examiner, referring to the
2 Anticipation is established only when a single prior art reference discloses, expressly or under
the principles of inherency, each and every element of a claimed invention. RCA Corp. v. Applied Digital
Data Sys., Inc., 730 F.2d 1440, 1444, 221 USPQ 385, 388 (Fed. Cir. 1984). In other words, there must be
no difference between the claimed invention and the reference disclosure, as viewed by a person of
ordinary skill in the field of the invention. Scripps Clinic & Research Found. v. Genentech Inc., 927 F.2d
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