Application of Marlan E. Bourns

While not disagreeing with the board’s holding that appellant’s design “presents an appearance of neatness and efficiency that is not fully taught by the references,” the majority finds that the design is not patentable. This conclusion is apparently predicated on the notion that each feature of the design, such as “the provision of a channel member of such size as to provide the particular border,” the “exact size and arrangement of such a border, and the number of faces on which it appears,” “the proportions of appellant’s device,” and “the location of the eyelets” are either the result of…