Appeal No. 2002-1591
Application No.09/616,503
interconnected frames (3) that can support panels (4) and wherein
a plurality of panels/frames can be joined together to form an
enclosure or room divider (col. 1, lines 21-25). See, for
example, Figures 1A-1C. The examiner has not addressed the fact
that appellant’s claimed subject matter (e.g., independent claims
35, 50 and 72) is directed to a window shutter system, while the
Richter patent addresses frames or panels for a room divider. As
for the examiner’s contention that the double claw clip (155) of
Richter is readable as a “hinge” because it permits pivotal
movement between adjacent frame members, we would generally
agree. However, what the examiner has failed to account for in
claim 35 on appeal is the further limitation that such “hinge” is
structurally and functionally “operable to connect one of the
elongate members to a window frame.” In appellant’s window
shutter system it is the elements (120), (216), (118) and (218)
which define a hinge operable to connect one of the elongate
members (126a) to a window frame member (110).
In the pipe connector assembly and room divider of Richter,
the double claw clip (155), seen best in Figure 11, is described
as holding two parallel pieces of pipe together and being used to
stabilize and join one panel to an adjacent panel (col. 7, lines
5
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