Appeal 2007-1857
Application 10/724,958
THE REJECTIONS
The claims stand rejected as follows: claims 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9 and 20
under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) as anticipated by Wilson; claims 3, 5 and 8 under
35 U.S.C. § 103 as obvious over Wilson in view of Wu; claims 10 and 12-16
under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as obvious over Wilson in view of Wu and Roberts;
and claims 17-19 under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as obvious over Wilson in view of
Wu and Dearing.
OPINION
The rejections are affirmed as to claims 1, 6, 10, 15 and 17, and
reversed as to claims 2-5, 7-9, 12-14, 16 and 18-20.
Wilson discloses “an articulating ergonomic support system for an
individual’s forearm, wrist and palm of the hand” (col. 1, ll. 11-13). “The
device can be attached to a desk, a computer keyboard tray, arms of a chair,
a pedestal base, and other support mechanisms” (col. 3, ll. 5-7). A user’s
forearm is supported in a saddle (22) that has a concave portion (28) and is
attached to the top portion (14) of a base (12) (col. 4, ll. 27-31). “The
concave top portion 28 of saddle 22 is formed in such a way that it cradles
the user’s limb and prevents the user’s limb from sliding off which could
result if that portion of saddle 22 was flat” (col. 4, ll. 43-46). The system
includes a number of swivels that provide an infinite number of variations in
the position of limb support (col. 7, l. 59 – col. 8, l. 13). In one embodiment
an inverted spoon-shaped member (116) supports the hand and wrist of the
user (col. 9, ll. 8-12). The inverted spoon-shaped member comprises an
elongated tongue-like wrist-supporting arm (118), one end of which is
pivotally attached to the base and the other end of which has a cupped
3
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Next
Last modified: September 9, 2013