Appeal No. 2002-1749
Application No. 09/395,270
itself “is not completely dimensionally stable. That is, when
one walks across broadloam carpet that has been installed, it can
shift in lateral directions or stretch” (emphasis added). In
keeping with this statement, we consider that the one of ordinary
skill in the art would understand the term “dimensionally stable”
as used in appellant’s claims to denote that the sheet of backing
material would not shift or stretch in lateral directions to any
significant degree when one walks across it.
Returning to Shaw, the description of the underlay used
therein is rather meager. The only enlightenment as to its
nature is found in the description in several places (see, for
example, Shaw #78, left column under the heading “General
Information”) that the carpet is secured to the floor by a dry
sheet bonding process which uses “a pressure sensitive mesh
material.” Based on the sparse disclosure of Shaw regarding the
nature of the underlay sheet, we consider that the examiner has
not made out a prima facie case that the underlay sheet of Shaw
is “dimensionally stable” as that term would be understood by one
of ordinary skill in the art. See In re Turlay, 304 F.2d 893,
899, 134 USPQ 355, 360 (CCPA 1962) (it is well settled that an
anticipation rejection cannot be predicated on an ambiguous
reference).
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