Appeal No. 2003-1439
Application No. 09/896,112
(Column 5, lines 11-12). Thielemann discloses a knitted fabric
(column 6, lines 19-20). Accordingly, it would have been obvious
to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was
made to fashion the apparatus out of twill1 for appearance or to
improve heat exchange and wick away moisture by using a porous
fabric. Alternatively, we find twill to be a known equivalent to
other woven and non-woven fabrics. As stated in In re Fout, 675
F.2d 297, 301, 213 USPQ 532, 536 (CCPA 1982) “Express suggestion
to substitute one equivalent for another need not be present to
render such substitution obvious.”
VI. The Rejection of Claims 10 and 11 Under 35 U.S.C. §103(a)
over Buckley in view of De Rosa, further in view of Thielemann.
As for claims 10 and 11, Buckley and De Rosa are as above.
Thielemann teaches a recessed area 33 (see figure 2) (for claim
10) and a transition area (see area about 33) (for claim 11)
extending from the recessed area for the purpose of allowing the
animal’s neck to raise and lower. Buckley also teaches a strap 27
to retain the appliance in place. It would have been obvious to
one of ordinary skill at the time the invention was made to
substitute a recessed area and a transitional tapering area for
the strap to secure the appliance to the animal being treated.
1 Twill is a “textile weave in which the filling threads pass over one and under
two or more warp threads to give an appearance of diagonal lines” Webster’s New
Collegiate Dictionary, page 1264.
12
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