Ex Parte Rabasco et al - Page 4

              Appeal 2006-2931                                                                       
              Application 10/447,009                                                                 
              properties based solely on the ethylene content (Br. 6).  Appellants further           
              contend that the high wet to dry tensile strength ratio of nonwoven webs               
              bonded with the polymers disclosed by Mudge were not achieved because                  
              the method employed by Mudge to produce the polymers would not result in               
              ethylene crystalline segments (Br. 6).                                                 
                    The first issue before us is whether Appellants have shown that the              
              Examiner erred in rejecting the claims under 35 U.S.C. §102(b) or in the               
              alternative under 35 U.S.C. §103(a).  The issue turns on whether the                   
              Examiner has established a reasonable belief that the property or                      
              characteristic recited in the claims would have been inherent to the product           
              or process, and whether the Appellants have adequately rebutted the                    
              Examiner's position by showing that the characteristic or property is not              
              possessed in the cited reference.  Specifically, the issue is whether the              
              Examiner has shown that the nonwoven product of Mudge comprising a                     
              nonwoven web of fibers bonded together with an emulsion polymerized                    
              polymer comprising vinyl acetate, ethylene, and a polymerized cross-linking            
              units of a monomer would be reasonably expected to inherently possess                  
              “polymerized units of crystalline ethylene segments” and the “polymer                  
              having a crystalline melting point ranging from 35 to 90°C as measured by              
              differential scanning calorimetry at a heat rate of 20°C per minute”                   
              properties, and, if so, whether Appellants have established that the product           
              of Mudge does not possess the recited characteristics.                                 
                                           FINDINGS OF FACT                                          
                    The following facts are relevant to the issues I and II:                         
                    Appellants invented a nonwoven product comprising the nonwoven                   
              web of fibers bonded together with a sufficient amount of binder.  The                 

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