Appeal No. 2005-1238 Page 6
Application No. 09/874,031
With this as background, we analyze the prior art applied by the examiner in the
rejection of the claims on appeal.
Turner's invention is related to the protection of potted growing plants during
shipping. As shown in Figure 1, a plant 5 is planted or grown in a pot 16 in potting soil 6
covered with a relatively thin layer of fibrous bedding material 7, usually about one-half
to one and one-half inches thick, to hold the potting soil in place during shipping of the
potted plant. An open-mesh cover 10 is placed over and against the layer of bedding
material and secured to the pot to hold the bedding material, and thus the potting soil, in
place.
In one of Turner's embodiments, the open-mesh cover comprises a set of
one-sixteenth inch diameter plastic rods spaced one inch apart and-fastened to a
second set of such rods having their longitudinal axis at an angle of about 90 degrees
from the longitudinal axis of the first set of rods. In this embodiment, the pot is provided
with a lip extending around the inside surface of the pot near its top. The open-mesh
cover is trimmed to fit inside the pot and snapped into place beneath the lip.
Turner's preferred embodiment of open-mesh cover is shown in Figures 2 and 3.
This cover comprises a ring 10 of O-shaped cross-section as shown in Figure 3 having
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