Appeal No. 2004-0131
Application No. 08/462,531
Specification, page 58, lines 14-18. The shoe sole sides are
sufficiently flexible to bend out easily when the shoes are put
on the wearer’s feet and therefore the shoe soles gently hold the
side of the wearer’s foot sole when on, providing the equivalent
of custom fit in a mass produced shoe sole. Specification, page
73, lines 21-26.
The amount of any shoe sole side portions coplanar with the
theoretically ideal stability plane is determined by the degree
of shoe sole stability desired and the shoe sole weight and bulk
required to provide said stability. The amount of coplanar
contoured sides that is provided for the shoe sole is that which
is sufficient to maintain intact the firm stability of the
wearer’s foot throughout the range of foot inversion and eversion
motion typical of the use for which the shoe is intended and also
typical of the kind of wear, such as normal or excessive
pronator, for which the shoe is intended. Specification, page
79, line 20 through page 80, line 3.
With regard to midsole density, Figure 6 depicts a frontal
or transverse plane cross section in the heel area. Figure 6
shows that variations in shoe midsole density can provide similar
but reduced effects to the variations in shoe sole thickness
described in Figures 4 and 5. The density variations are
measured in durometers on a Shore A scale to include 5 percent to
10 percent and from 11 percent up to 25 percent. The density
variations are located preferably at least in that part of the
contoured side which becomes the wearer’s body weight load-
bearing during the full range of inversion and eversion, which is
sideways or lateral foot motion. Specification, page 56, lines
3-18. Density variations can and do, also occur in other layers
than the midsole area, of the shoe sole, such as the bottom sole
and the inner sole, and can occur in any combination and in
symmetrical or asymmetrical patterns between layers or between
-7-
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