Appeal No. 1998-3312
Application No. 08/354,803
Gruska, British Patent ‘931, Japanese Patent ‘333, and
European Patent ‘579.
Before looking at the teachings of the applied
references, we look to the requirements of independent claim 1
on appeal. Claim 1 on appeal requires, in summary, a device
for applying a pasty product, presented in the form of a stick
comprising a tubular element (1) with a slideway, shown as (2)
in Figures 1 and 2, a cylindrical casing, shown as (11) in
Figure 1, an outer sleeve, shown as (14), in which the casing
is immobilized, and a flexible bearing means, shown as (F),
provided between the casing and the tubular element (1) and
including a plurality of tongues (15), which are flexible in
the radial direction and a bearing surface (20) which is
inclined radially of the longitudinal axis of the tubular
element (1), wherein the plurality of tongues and the inclined
bearing surface are situated axially beyond the lower end of
the outer sleeve (14).
Now we look to the prior art applied by the examiner.
The Holloway reference teaches a similar device for applying a
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