Appeal 2006-3236
Inter Partes Reexamination Control No. 95/000,006
to perform its stated function. The boundary where a surface reaches a
physical interruption or, on a single surface, where the surface ceases to
perform its function is the "edge" of the surface. It does not make any
difference whether the edge is a visible structural discontinuity or an
imaginary line. As an example of defining separate surfaces on a single
continuous surface by their function, the single continuous lower planar
surface of the tray in the '595 patent is disclosed to have a bottom surface 42
for each of several lower side storage portions 34 (Figs. 5 and 6; col. 6,
ll. 11-15) where the extent of each bottom surface 42 is defined by its
function of it being a bottom. Different portions of a single uninterrupted
surface can perform different functions and each portion can be considered a
different surface. Thus, it is possible for Brahmbhatt's surface 68 to have
first and second wall surfaces, each defined by function.
Second, claim 1 recites that "said second wall surface is inclined at an
angle larger than the angle of said first wall surface, with respect to the
horizontal." This does not imply that either wall surface is flat or
approximately flat. The claimed angle could refer to the average angle of its
associated, possibly non-planar, surface area. It is possible that a part of the
surface 68 in Brahmbhatt with a constantly varying angle could be a wall
surface. Nevertheless, the requirement that the first and second wall
surfaces have different angles implies the existence of an identifiable,
physical transition between them, although it need not be abrupt. Thus, it is
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