Appeal No. 97-0454
Application No. 08/089,375
vertical and horizontal members be “formed from a sheet of
stiffened cloth” made by bonding a sheet of the original tie
material to a “fusion cloth.” The purpose of utilizing stiffened
cloth is to overcome a problem in the art by improving the
sliding interface between the vertical and the horizontal
members, thereby improving the ability of the necktie to
automatically adjust to increases and decreases in slack when the
wearer moves (specification, pages 14-16). “Fusion cloth” is a
material used as a backing for shirt collars and the like to
eliminate the development of wrinkles, bulges or other
imperfections which would detract from the appearance of the
garment.2
It is the examiner’s position that Jones discloses all of
the components of the tie recited in claim 5, except for making
the horizontal and vertical members of a stiffened cloth. For
this, the examiner looks to Smith, which discloses the use of
“fusion cloth” in shirt collars. The examiner concludes that it
would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to
make the two members of Jones out of fusion cloth “where a crisp
look and a long wearing accessory is desired” (Answer, page 6).
2This is explained in column 1 of the Smith reference,
applied by the examiner against the claims.
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Last modified: November 3, 2007