Appeal No. 2002-0913
Application No. 09/107,643
22 which is preferably made of a woven fabric or scrim. The
purpose of the outer strip 22 is “to prevent contact of the
wearer with the elastic material forming strip 21” (column 3,
lines 32-33). Figure 5 shows a disposable absorbent diaper pad
for use in conjunction with the retaining garment. Figure 6
illustrates the retaining garment with the disposable diaper pad
retained therein. According to McConnell, with retaining
garments and disposable diaper pads of this type, “the diaper
supporting and retaining garment is reused many times while the
disposable diaper pads are discarded after becoming soiled in
use” (column 1, lines 45-47).
Upon review of the examiner’s explanation of the rejection
on page 6 of the answer, it is clear that in rejecting
appellant’s claims as being anticipated by or obvious in view of
McConnell the examiner reads the claimed disposable diaper
comprising a body portion having a layer of liquid-absorbent
material and a plastic layer on the combination of the retaining
garment and the disposable diaper pad of the reference, with
McConnell’s sheet of flexible polymeric cellular material 10
corresponding, in the examiner’s view, to the claimed “plastic
layer” of the disposable diaper and with McConnell’s disposable
24
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