Appeal No. 97-3289
Application 08/550,895
air-filled items is taught by Brock, in which certain
properties of the polyvinyl chloride plastic sheeting are
improved by the addition of plasticizers (column 4, lines 33-
35). According to Brock, this improves the flame resistance
of the plastic sheet,
and it is our view that this improvement in safety would have
served as motivation for one of ordinary skill in the art to
so modify the plastic of the Nail mattress. In this regard,
the prior art teachings relied upon need not disclose the same
advantage that the appellants allege, for all that is required
is that there is a reasonable suggestion to combine the
references. See In re Kronig, 539 F.2d 1300, 1304, 190 USPQ
425, 427-428 (CCPA 1976) and Ex parte Obiaya, 227 USPQ 58, 60
(Bd. Pat. App. & Int. 1985). We further note that it was
known at the time of the appellants’ invention to add
plasticizer to natural and synthetic rubber and resins for the
same reason as did the appellants, that is, to impart
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