Appeal No. 2003-0918 Page 12
Application No. 09/395,659
surface is not flat as claimed. Accordingly, the decision of the examiner to reject claims
7 and 10 under 35 U.S.C. § 103 is reversed.
Claims 11 to 15
We will not sustain the rejection of claims 11 to 15 under 35 U.S.C. § 103.
Claims 11 to 15 include the limitation that "one or more of said ridges has an
asymmetrical profile."
We find ourselves in agreement with the appellants' argument (brief, p. 5) that it
would not have been obvious to modify Hoult to have a ridge with an asymmetrical
profile as claimed. In our view, the ribs 36, 36a, 36b and 36c of Kuebler all have a
symmetrical profile. While the rib 37 of Kuebler has an asymmetrical profile as shown
in Figure 5, it would not have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a
person of ordinary skill in the art to have included such a profile in the lacrosse stick of
Hoult since such a profile would interfere in a player moving their hands up and down
the handle as is typically done when playing lacrosse. Accordingly, the decision of the
examiner to reject claims 11 to 15 under 35 U.S.C. § 103 is reversed.
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