Appeal 2006-2014
Application 09/745,006
pleated sheet structure that is attached to the body-side liner to provide a
pocket for collection of fecal matter” as claimed (Br. 7).
Appellant further contends that the peripheral edges of Tanzer’s
“pleated layer 54 . . . . [are] attached to fluid impermeable lateral panels
120” not to a fluid permeable body-side liner as required by the claims (Br.
9). Additionally, Appellant contends that since Tanzer’s “envelope web”
cannot correspond to the claimed “body-side liner,” Tanzer cannot disclose
forming a pocket between the flap sheet or pocket sheet (i.e., liquid control
assembly 102) and the body-side liner as required by the claims (Br. 9-10).
For the reasons discussed below, we are unpersuaded by Appellant’s
arguments.
We begin our discussion by construing the claim term “fluid
permeable body-side liner.” Appellant has not provided a definition of
“fluid permeable body-side liner” in the Specification, so the Examiner’s
construction is not governed by any such definition. Phillips v. AWH Corp.,
415 F.3d 1303, 1316, 75 USPQ2d 1321, 1329 (Fed. Cir. 2005). The
Examiner provides a definition of “fluid permeable body-side liner”: a layer
in an absorbent article that is “fluid permeable and more bodyside than
[other structures] and [that] lines other structures” in the absorbent article
(Answer 7).
Appellant contends that one of skill in the art would understand
“body-side liner” to mean “an outer lining that is disposed between the
absorbent core and the article user, and which contacts the skin of the article
user” (Br. 7). Appellant cites to page 1, lines 11-14 of Tanzer’s disclosure to
support this contention (Br. 7). However, Tanzer merely describes a diaper
“typically” has a bodyside liner, a liquid impervious backsheet and an
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Last modified: September 9, 2013