Appeal No. 2004-0921
Application No. 09/472,134
Kitamura discloses a snowmobile which includes footrests 9
and nearly vertical upright walls 10a and 10b extending upwardly
from the forward ends of the footrests (see Figures 1 through 3).
Claim 73 recites a snowmobile comprising, inter alia, (1)
right and left sideboards having forward portions disposed at an
angle with horizontal that is -5° to -10° and (2) right and left
toe-holds disposed respectively above the rider’s toes in a
vertical plane. The examiner (see pages 7 through 9 in the
answer) finds that the former feature is met by Kitamura’s
footrests 9 which are illustrated in Figure 1 as being disposed
at an angle to the horizontal of approximately -6° and that the
latter feature is met by Kitamura’s upright walls 10a and 10b.
Although Figure 1 does show the footrests 9 disposed at an angle
of approximately -6° to the horizontal, Kitamura makes no mention
of footrest angles and does not indicate that Figure 1 is drawn
to scale. Absent any written description in a reference of
quantitative values or that the drawings are working drawings,
arguments based on drawing measurements have little practical
value. See Hockerson-Halberstadt Inc. v. Avia Group
International Inc., 222 F.3d 951, 956, 55 USPQ2d 1487, 1491 (Fed.
Cir. 2000). Furthermore, Kitamura does not show or describe the
sidewalls 10a and 10b as having any structure which one of
10
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