Appeal No. 2001-2533 Page 7
Application No. 09/372,988
(2)
The invention set forth in claim 2 comprises a skew fiber body layer having a
resin ratio of 15-20% by weight and an axial fiber body layer having a resin content of
10-15% by weight, with that of the axial layer being lower than that of the skewed layer.
This claim has been rejected on the basis of Akatsuka and Qureshi. Akatsuka has
been discussed above; it teaches that all full layers should have resin contents of 23-
27% and therefore does not suggest the ranges recited in claim 2. Qureshi teaches
resin percentages in the range of 5-70 by weight (column 11, lines 39-45), and the
examiner looks to this for alleviating the shortcoming in Akatsuka, opining that it would
have been obvious to make the resin content of the axial layer lower than that of the
skew layer, and both within the claimed ranges, “in order to have more fibers and less
resin for the same total weight of a layer such that the shaft will be stiffer for a player
who requires a stiffer shaft” (Answer, pages 5 and 6). No evidentiary basis is presented
in support of this conclusion, and therefore we will not sustain the rejection on the basis
that a prima facie case of obviousness has not been established.
(3)
Claim 3 sets forth the invention as comprising a body layer having a ratio of
impregnation of synthetic resin in a range of 10-25% by weight, a partial layer having a
resin ratio which is greater than 28%, with the body layer having a lower ratio that the
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