Appeal No. 2002-1583 Page 7
Application No. 09/299,678
support member having a surface engaging foot pivotally attached to the end thereof for
securably engaging a ladder support surface; (3) lateral stability indicating means
secured to the top plate; and (4) longitudinal stability indicating means secured to the
top plate.
In the rejection before us in this appeal, the examiner determined (answer, pp. 3-
4) that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide the ladder
of Joseph with (1) pivoting foot pads as suggested and taught by Hutson and
(2) a bubble level as suggested and taught by Christy.
While we agree with the examiner that the above-noted modifications of Joseph
would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person of ordinary
skill in the art from the teachings of the applied prior art, we also find ourselves in
agreement with the appellant that such modifications of Joseph do not arrive at the
claimed invention. In that regard, the teachings of the applied prior art would not have
suggested to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to
have provided Joseph's ladder with both a lateral stability indicating means secured to
the top plate and a longitudinal stability indicating means secured to the top plate as
recited in claim 1 since the applied prior art suggest only providing a single bubble level
on the top plate.
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007