Appeal No. 97-3289
Application 08/550,895
flexibility (specification, page 7), as is evidenced by the
common definition of this term. 2
Fraige is directed to improvements in water
mattresses, and discusses the need for strength in such
structures, since they are made of thin plastic films such as
polyvinyl chloride (column 1, line 21 et seq.). This
reference points out that lap seams have more strength than
butt seams (column 4, lines 3-19).
We agree with the examiner that one of ordinary skill in the
art would have found it obvious to utilize lap seams in the
bonding
of the plastic sheets to one another, in view of the explicit
teaching found in Fraige.
For the reasons set forth above, it is our
conclusion that the combined teachings of Nail, Walker, Brock
and Fraige establish a prima facie case of obviousness with
2See, for example, Webster’s Third New International
Dictionary, 1971, p. 891.
8
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