Appeal No. 2004-0190 Page 5
Application No. 09/479,531
Claim 28 stands rejected as being anticipated by Sihra. Claim 28 sets forth a
guide system for building a toy three-dimensional structure of stacked layers of
structural units, and includes “a single three dimensional structural unit guide wherein
said structural units are positioned in hollow cavities of the structural unit guide that
correspond to an outer peripheral shape of the specific structural unit, wherein the guide
is incorporated into the assembled structure.” The examiner has taken the position that
this language reads on element 554 of Sihra’s Figures 20 and 21, which comprises a
plurality of three-sided rectangular cavities within which portions of the vertical structural
units are received and connected to one another (column 4, line 61 et seq.). The
appellant argues in rebuttal that elements 554 are not guides or part of a guide system,
that they are not three dimensional unit guides, and that they do not include “hollow
cavities” that “correspond to the outer peripheral shape of the engaging block 554"
(Brief, page 13).
It is our view that each element 554 is, in fact, a guide, inasmuch as it locates the
vertical structural elements with respect to one another, and that as shown in Figures 20
and 21 is part of a guide system. It also is our view that the claim does not require that
the cavities in the guides completely surround the structural elements, but only that they
“correspond to” the outer peripheral shape. Since three of the four sides of each
vertical element fit within the cavity in element 554, the cavity corresponds to “an” outer
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007