Appeal 2006-1989
Application 09/772,278
Patent 5,996,948
STATEMENT OF CASE
Applicant appeals under 35 U.S.C. § 134 (2002) from a final rejection
of claims 1-5 and 7. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b) (2002).
The only independent claim under appeal reads as follows: 2
1. A wire chafing stand comprising a first [an upper] rim of wire steel
which forms a closed geometrical configuration circumscribing a first
surface area, [a lower rim of wire steel forming a closed geometrical
configuration circumscribing a second surface area with said first surface
area being larger than said second surface area] and having at least two [a
plurality of] wire legs with each wire leg having two upright sections
interconnected to one another [at a location below the lower rim] in a
configuration forming a base support for the stand to rest upon with each
upright section extending upwardly from said base support to form an angle
equal to or greater than 90° with respect to a horizontal plane through said
base support and being affixed to the first [upper] rim adjacent one end
thereof [and to said lower rim at a relatively equal distance below the point
of attachment to said upper rim] and further comprising a plurality of offsets
located either in said upright sections of said wire legs or in said first [upper]
rim for laterally displacing each wire leg relative to said first [upper] rim to
facilitate the nesting of a multiplicity of stands into one another without
significant wedging.
The Examiner rejected claims 1-5 and 7 under 35 U.S.C. § 251 as
being an improper recapture of surrendered subject matter (Final 2-6). The
2 Underlining indicates additions and [brackets] indicate deletions by
amendment.
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