Appeal No. 2002-0955 Page 6
Application No. 09/511,921
140 (CCPA 1978). Thus, we also sustain the rejection of claim 25 as being anticipated
by Kilgore.
We shall not, however, sustain the examiner’s rejection of claims 5 and 23 as
being anticipated by Kilgore. From our perspective, one of ordinary skill in the art would
simply not reasonably consider the barrel-shaped support elements 332 of Kilgore’s
Figures 9e and 9f, or any of the other embodiments of support elements disclosed by
Kilgore, to be “generally spherical.”
We shall not sustain the examiner’s rejection of claim 17 as being anticipated by
Kilgore. The examiner’s position that the foam webs 238 in the support element 232
illustrated in Kilgore’s Figures 9c and 9d are a tension member extending through one
of the shock-absorber elements, as called for in claim 17, is unreasonable. As pointed
out by appellants (brief, page 12), the web portions 238 cannot be construed as a
member extending through the foam column 232, because the web portions are
themselves part of the foam column.
As to claims 26 and 28, the examiner asserts that the foam webs 238 of
Kilgore’s support element 232 are inherently capable of performing the function of
providing no resistance to compressive forces when placed in compression and no
resistance of movement of the force distribution plates toward one another, so as to
meet the limitation of the tension member being “adapted and configured” to perform
these functions. As pointed out by appellants on page 14 of their brief, however, the
foam webs 238 are part of the foam column 232 itself and thus contribute to its
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