Appeal No. 2002-1022
Application 09/326,934
answer, the examiner directs us to Figures 3 and 4 of Anderson,
and to the reel or wheel (52), urging that this patent teaches a
mechanical reel having borders as images on the reel that
surround the symbols, characters or alphanumerics that are on the
reel, and a reel wherein the frames and borders on the reel have
the visual appearance of a motion picture film strip. We agree.
In particular, we note that the transparent, flexible
plastic strip (54) seen in Figure 4 of Andersen has symbols (8)
and borders (unnumbered) printed thereon and located adjacent to
identification markings (58) on one edge of the strip. The
borders are visually apparent and clearly surround each of the
symbols to locally define a frame. When the transparent overlay
strip (54) is applied to the reels (52), the borders will clearly
appear as images on the reels and visually appear as a frame
around each symbol. Appellants’ argument that a physical
appliance like that placed on the reels in Andersen has a
function and is not an “image,” may be true, but nonetheless, the
borders printed on the transparent strip (54) do serve to provide
“borders as images on the reels” as required in appellants’ claim
1 on appeal. For that reason, we will sustain the examiner’s
rejection of claim 1 under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) based on Andersen.
7
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