Appeal No. 2000-0652 Page 9
Application No. 08/868,774
Moura for the reasons set forth above with respect to
independent claim 1.
The obviousness rejection of claim 26
We will not sustain the rejection of claim 26 under
35 U.S.C. § 103.
The test for obviousness is what the combined teachings
of the references would have suggested to one of ordinary
skill in the art. See In re Young, 927 F.2d 588, 591, 18
USPQ2d 1089, 1091 (Fed. Cir. 1991) and In re Keller, 642 F.2d
413, 425, 208 USPQ 871, 881 (CCPA 1981).
We find ourselves in agreement with the appellants'
position (brief, pp. 12-13) that independent claim 26 is not
rendered obvious by the combined teachings of Balkwill and Ben
Moura. In that regard, we agree with the appellants that the
limitation that the gripping layer be "formed from a material
that is softer than a material used to form the portion of
said base covered by said gripping layer" as recited in claim
Page: Previous 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007