Appeal No. 2004-1798
Application 08/883,387
inherently provides “all necessary lateral support for the
building and all necessary vertical support for the floors of the
building,” as set forth in claim 27. Indeed, the disclosure in
Livingston that the shear wall panels (94, 96, 132, 134) are
connected to the load bearing wall panels and “serve the dual
functions of enclosing the ends of the dwelling unit and
maintaining the load bearing walls erect” (e.g., col. 8,
lines 20-23), belies any such conclusion that the structure (50,
52, 60) provides all necessary lateral support for the building,
especially since Livingston notes (col. 8, lines 32-37) that it
is often unnecessary to even connect the pallets of the service
cores (60, 102) to the load bearing wall panels (50, 52).
As an additional note, we also agree with appellants that
the examiner’s conclusion that the end wall panels (94, 96 and/or
140, 142) of Livingston define at least one exterior wall that is
inherently vertically self-supporting, is based entirely on
speculation and conjecture.
Since we have determined that the teachings and suggestions
in the Livingston patent would not anticipate the multi-story
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