Appeal No. 2002-1192
Application 09/256,383
tensile and tensegrity systems, and various architectural design
and construction kits (col. 2, lines 51-58). The patentee notes
(col. 2, lines 40-47) that building systems based on non-regular
polyhedral nodes expand the architectural vocabulary by providing
structures with irregular angles, lengths and faces, while
retaining the property of permitting periodic configurations, and
also permitting non-periodic configurations, and irregular-random
configurations to be formed out of a limited number of building
components.
Like appellant (brief, pages 3-9), we find nothing in
Lalvani which discloses, teaches or suggests “[a] large,
polygonal tank . . . for storing liquids,” as is set forth in
claims 17 and 18 on appeal. While the Lalvani patent clearly
discloses, and shows in Figure 2, a truss-based frame structure
useful in architecture on earth and in space for environmental
and sculptural structures, platforms, roofs, playground
structures, honeycombs, toys, games, and educational kits
(Abstract), there is nothing in Lalvani which teaches or suggests
that such a frame structure could or should be used in the
environment of large, polygonal storage tanks for liquids.
Moreover, as has been pointed out by appellant on page 6 of the
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