Appeal No. 97-0747
Application 08/443,258
appellants state that “[w]ith respect to the issue on appeal, claims 15-21 and 23-27 stand or fall
together” (page 3). Thus, for purposes of this appeal, claims 15 through 21, 23 through 25 and 27 shall
stand or fall with representative claim 26.
Of particular importance to the issues presented in this appeal is the disclosure of Neckerman,
the examiner’s primary reference. Neckerman relates to knit cuffs for garments such as surgical gowns.
Figure 8 shows a pair of such cuffs 24 attached to the sleeves of surgical gown 26. Each cuff includes
a two-ply front section 12, a single-ply middle section 14 and a two-ply back section 16. In the
example described in columns 3 and 4, the front section is about 2 to 2½ inches long, the middle
section is about 2 inches long and the back section is about 1 inch long. The front, middle and back
sections are knit together on a circular knitting machine in one continuous step to form a discrete
integral cuff which does not require any subsequent cutting or folding to achieve a finished state (see
column 1, lines 42 through 53; and column 2, lines 57 through 65). As described by Neckerman,
[o]nce the present invention cuff has been knit no further steps have to be taken to finish
the cuff. The present invention neither has to be cut nor folded to arrive at a finished
cuff. This is not so with prior art because the prior art fabric must be cut or trimmed
and then folded over onto itself to make a finished cuff. A distinct disadvantage.
The present invention is also more economical to produce than prior art
because it takes fewer process steps to end up with finished material. Additionally, the
back section of the present invention permits the cuff to be readily secured to a garment
without further preparation. This is due to the fact that the back section once knit has a
finished edge which facilitates attachment to a garment. Prior art on the other hand has
to take an additional step to trim the cuff to size and then attach the cuff to a garment
[column 3, lines 17 through 34].
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Last modified: November 3, 2007