Appeal No. 2006-1819 4
Application No. 10/102,445
OPINION
In reaching our decision in this appeal, we have given careful consideration to
appellant’s specification and claims, to the applied prior art reference, and to the
respective positions articulated by appellant and the examiner. As a consequence of our
review, we have made the determination that the examiner’s above-noted rejection under
35 U.S.C. § 103(a) will not be sustained. Our reasons follow.
The examiner’s basic position is set forth on pages 4-7 of the answer. Essentially, the
examiner is of the view that flooring adapter transition member (10) of Glatz comprises an
elongate wedge in sheet form (col. 3, line 33); including a thick end (at 60) with a thickness
generally equal to the height difference between a high area of the floor and a low area of
the floor at a transition region, where the thick end is placeable at the juncture adjacent the
high area of the floor; and a relatively thin end (at 42) opposite the thick end and parallel to
the thick end, the thin end being placeable on the low area of the floor remote for the high
area of the floor and the juncture; and a tapering section interconnecting the thick end and
the thin end and forming a top surface of the wedge, the tapering section providing a
support surface means for being covered with a flooring material; the wedge constituting
means for rendering the junction between the high area and the low area generally
unnoticeable to persons walking across the flooring material on the tapering section and
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