Appeal 2007-0554
Reexamination Nos. 90/006,118 & 90/006,254
Patent 6,196,681 B1
the claimed “unitary structure for an eye covering” (Br. App. Claim 1), the
size, shape, and configuration of the claimed “structure” are undefined.
Accordingly, we interpret the phrase “[a] unitary structure for an eye
covering adapted to engage the brow and nose or the wearer” in Claim 1 to
include conventional unitary structures comprising a segment to be
supported by the nose (nosepiece support segment) and segment or segments
to which transparent eye coverings may be attached which extend from the
nosepiece support segment across, and adjacent to, some portion of the
undefined brow.1 The soft portions of the segments, extending from the
nosepiece support segment across and adjacent to the brow of the wearer, are
adapted to softly contact the brow of the wearer in the event of a force
applied to the eye covering or claimed unitary structure therefor. The
Specification teaches that “the nosepiece comfortably engages the nose of
the wearer while maintaining a desired position of the eye covering
structure” (Specification, col. 2, ll. 45-47). The claimed unitary structure
affords “good protection from shock created by a force applied to the
transparent lens structure” (Specification, col. 2, ll. 43-45). Appellant’s
drawings depict a unitary structure within the scope of the Appellant’s
claims, and the Specification as a whole describes no more.
To enlighten persons skilled in the art as to the meaning of “the two-
shot process in a single mold that chemically bonds the soft portion to the
hard portion” (Br. App. Claim 1) and “a two-shot process that chemically
bonds a first hard material forming said hard outer portion to a second soft
1 We note the exemplary brow of Frida Kahlo (1907-1954), the iconic
Mexican painter.
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