Appeal No. 2000-1728 Page 9
Application No. 08/785,128
Independent claim 13 and dependent claims 14, 16, 17 and 18 stand rejected as
being unpatentable over the combined teachings of DesMarais and Visscher. As
manifested in claim 13, the appellants’ invention comprises an uppermost primary
absorbent member and a lowermost secondary absorbent member. Fluid pervious
topsheets are superimposed over each of the absorbent members, and a fluid impervious
backsheet is joined to the bottom of the lowermost absorbent member. A pair of flaps are
joined to the longitudinal side edges of the lowermost absorbent member extending in the
transverse direction. The primary absorbent member is “sized to fit at least partially within
the labial groove of a wearer during use.” It should be noted here that the limitation
regarding the joining of the absorbent members by “union means” that was present in
claim 1 is not included in claim 13.
The examiner finds in DesMarais all of the subject matter recited in claim 13 except
for the pair of flaps joined to the longitudinal side edges of the secondary absorbent
member and extending beyond the side edges in a transverse direction. However, it is the
examiner’s view that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to add
such flaps to the DesMarais sanitary napkin, in view of the teachings of Visscher. The
appellants dispute these positions, arguing that these references, alone or in combination,
fail to disclose the primary absorbent member sized to fit at least partially within the
wearer’s labial groove during use, and that Visscher’s disclosure of side flaps is not in the
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