Appeal No. 1998-2519
Application No. 08/167,692
defined as the lateral line of the diaper’s
waist band about the child and can also
stretch in a direction 45 degrees above it,
thus Widlund satisfying this requirement.
[Paper No. 11, pages 2 to 3].
In response to appellant’s argument that such stretching at a
45 degree angle to the waist would not satisfy the requirement
of claim 1 that the first direction is “generally parallel to
the longitudinal axis of the absorbent assembly” (brief, page
7), the examiner asserts that the recited “longitudinal axis”
is not required to extend from the front waist to the rear
waist (answer, page 4).
We do not consider the examiner’s position to be well
taken. Even assuming that the examiner’s scenario of
stretching at
45 degree angles would satisfy the claim requirement that the
elastic material is adapted to stretch in substantially
perpendicular first and second directions, claim 1 recites
that the absorbent assembly has a longitudinal axis and
opposite longitudinally spaced ends, and the tummy band
elastically connects one end of the absorbent assembly and the
outer cover. Thus, since the ends are defined as
4
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