Appeal No. 1997-0870
Application No. 08/333,416
production of paint rollers (Answer, page 4).
From the foregoing findings, the examiner makes the
following conclusions:
[i]t would have been obvious to one having ordinary
skill in the art to substitute Hielema's
polypropylene core-forming strip material and
corresponding adhesive application means for
Grodberg et al's cardboard core-forming strip
material precoated with adhesive, because Garcia
shows that it is known to use polypropylene core
stock for producing paint rollers, and because of
the similarity in operation of the Grodberg et al
and Hielema winding devices. (Id.).
“[W]hen determining the patentability of a claimed
invention which combines two known elements, 'the question is
whether there is something in the prior art as a whole to
suggest the desirability, and thus the obviousness, of making
the combination.' [Citations omitted].” In re Rouffet, 149
F.3d 1350, 1356, 47 USPQ2d 1453, 1456 (Fed. Cir. 1998). The
examiner has concluded that it would have been obvious to
substitute the polypropylene core-forming strip material of
Hielema for the cardboard core-forming strip material of
Grodberg (Answer, page 4). However, Grodberg specifically
desires to make a disposable paint roller which necessarily
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