Appeal No. 2004-0190 Page 9
Application No. 09/479,531
The Section 103 rejection of independent claim 14 and dependent claims 15, 16
and 24 is not sustained.
Claim 17 stands rejected as being unpatentable over Owen in view of Berstrom
and Burkart. The examiner finds all of the subject matter in claim 17 to be disclosed in
Owen, except for the game pieces for each player, a movement measuring device
having a retractable extendable measuring line, a semi-circular member positioned
adjacent a base, and a semi-circular member having indicia positioned thereon and able
to measure in three dimensions (Answer, pages 7 and 8).
Owen discloses a boat racing game in which the course of each boat is plotted
on the surface of a chart board; there are no game pieces. The examiner takes the
position that it would have been obvious to add a plurality of game pieces for each
player in the Owen game in view of Berstrom’s disclosure of a sailboat race game in
which game pieces are placed on a chart board “in order to make it easier for players to
have a better three dimension view of the location of all the players during the game”
(Answer, page 8). However, it is basic to the Owen game that courses of the boats be
plotted on the chart with marker pens (columns 1 and 2), and that the charts be used as
overlays with weather maps in order to add more realism to an “advanced game”
(column 6, line 47 et seq.). The adding of game pieces would seem to interfere with the
operation of the Owen game, as disclosed, and the rationale upon which the examiner
bases the proposed modification is not supported by any evidence.
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