Appeal No. 1999-0369
Application No. 08/575,926
claims 4, 23 and 39 as “patentably distinguishing over the
prior art of record” (answer, page 7, under the heading
“Allowable Subject Matter”). Presumably, the examiner means
by this that claims 4, 23 and 39 would be allowable if
rewritten in independent form to include all the limitations
of the base claims and any intervening claims from which they
depend. Accordingly, the appeal as to claims 4, 23 and 39 is
dismissed, leaving for our consideration only claims 1-3, 5-
12, 14-16, 19, 21, 22, 24, 26-38, 40-42 and 44-51. No other
claims are pending.
Appellants’ invention pertains to an absorbent article
such as an infant diaper, training pants, adult incontinence
product, and the like, and in particular to an absorbent
article having a rear reservoir which includes a rear waist
flap to contain body exudates. Of particular interest to
appellants is the provision of a spacer in the rear reservoir
to maintain a sufficient void volume in the reservoir.
Independent claims 1, 19 and 34, copies of which are found in
an appendix to appellants’ main brief, are illustrative of the
appealed subject matter.
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