Appeal No. 2005-0540 Page 5
Application No. 09/942,199
With respect to Pontikas, the appellant submitted that:
none of the joints disclosed therein have a structure wherein a cavity is formed in
a first flat member that has a depth that extends a predetermined distance below
the first flat surface, and wherein a second flat member has a tab formed therein
that has a thickness that substantially matches the depth of the cavity formed in
the flrst flat member. The only joint structures relating to the formation of planar
structures (shown in Fig. 20) uses a plurality of dovetail joints wherein the
protrusions and cutouts are the entire thickness of the respective wood pieces.
There is no disclosure or suggestion in the Grisley patent regarding the use of
interlocking joints wherein the indents and protrusions are a portion of the
thickness of the respective wood pieces, as is employed in the present invention.
The appellant then concludes that with specific regard to independent claim 1,
that:
the Grisley and Pontikas patents, taken singly or together, do not disclose or
suggest ajoint system comprising ''a cavity formed in the first flat member . . . that
has a depth that extends a predetennined distance below the first flat surface,
and wherein the depth of the cavity is a predetermined portion of the thickness of
the flrst flat member'' and ''a second flat member ... having a tab ... that ... fits
within the cavity, which tab has a thickness that substantially matches the depth
of the cavity formed in the first flat member.'' [Emphasis in original] Thus, in the
invention recited in claim 1, the tab and the cavity have a thickness and depth
that are a portion of the overall thickness of the first and second flat members.
This is not the case with the joints disclosed in the Grisley and Pontikas patents.
With regard to independent claim 6, the appellant makes the same argument as
raised with respect to claim 1. In addition, the appellant argues that the recitations that
first flat member "comprises a single cavity" and the second flat member "comprises a
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