Appeal No. 1998-1939
Application No. 08/403,288
Gueret ‘011 discloses a brush having radially-extending
bristles 2 for applying "a make-up product having a liquid to
pasty consistency, especially mascara" (col. 2, lines 67 and
68). The patent teaches that in order to deposit a sufficient
quantity of make-up while still being soft to avoid irritating
contact with the eye (col. 1, lines 14 to 19 and 44 to 47;
col. 4, lines 12 to 14), the bristles should be made of
elastomeric or thermoplastic material, i.e. (col. 2, lines 32
to 37):
The material is preferably selected from the
following group of materials: silicone,
EVA=ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer, polyether
amide block copolymer, polyester elastomer,
EPDM=ethylene propylene diene monomer rubber,
polyurethane, SBS=styrene butadiene styrene,
latex and nitrile butadiene rubber.
In view of this disclosure of Gueret ‘011, we consider
that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in
the art to make the axially-extending bristles of the brushes
of Cole out of one of the materials disclosed by Gueret ‘011,
supra, including a thermoplastic elastomer such as EPDM
rubber, polyester elastomer, or SBS. Such a modification of
the brushes of Cole, which, as discussed above, are disclosed
6
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007