Appeal No. 2004-1293
Application No. 09/989,330
shell that is higher than another in order to obtain a natural
and aesthetically pleasing appearance.
Claim 31 recites that the receptacle is positioned in the
transparent container after the recess is partially filled with
substrate medium and a live plant is planted, while claim 32
recites removing the plant display from the aquarium for
cleaning purposes. Although James does not specifically
disclose these steps, we determine that one of ordinary skill in
the art would have carried out the recited steps in the normal
use of James’s aquarium in order to facilitate the positioning
of the filter system in the aquarium as well as its periodic
cleaning and maintenance.
C. Claims 4, 5, 23, and 25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §
103(a) as unpatentable over the combined teachings of James and
U.S. Patent 4,117,805 issued to Ward on Oct. 3, 1978, already of
record.
Claims 4, 5, and 25 recite a transparent container having a
“convex configuration so that, when viewed from outside the
container through the convex portion, contents of the container
appear magnified” or “a generally spherical bowl.” Ward teaches
an aquarium having a generally spherical bowl shape. (Figure
1.) Thus, it is our judgment that one of ordinary skill in the
art would have been led to combine the teachings of James with
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