Appeal No. 2006-0904
Application No. 09/919,465
obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art within the meaning of
Section 103 in view of the applied prior art. Accordingly, we
will sustain the examiner’s rejection for essentially those
reasons expressed in the answer.
There is no dispute that Shawyer, like appellants, discloses
a multiple component web comprised of multiple component fibers
wherein the multiple component fibers comprise a first component
that is a blend of polymers and a second component that is a
single polyolefin polymer. As recognized by the examiner,
Shawyer does not teach a blend of non-elastomeric polymers as
presently claimed. Rather, Shawyer employs a blend of a
polyolefin and an elastomeric thermoplastic material which
provides a fabric having improved abrasion resistance, as well as
strength and softness properties that are comparable to blends
not having the elastomeric polymer. However, inasmuch as the
polymer blend of Shawyer is taught as an improvement over blends
not having an elastomeric polymer component, and Newkirk
evidences that it was known in the art to use a blend of non-
elastomeric polymers as one component of a multiple component
meltblown web, we are convinced that the examiner properly
concluded that it would have been obvious for one of ordinary
skill in the art to utilize a blend of non-elastomeric polymers
3
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007