Ex Parte Colson - Page 4


                Appeal 2006-3364                                                                                  
                Application 10/305,972                                                                            

                       Alcocer discloses an aircraft window shade having a pair of narrow                         
                width, vertical pleated strips (30) of textile material sewed, stapled or                         
                adhesively secured to vertically spaced ribs (10b) between vertically                             
                adjacent pleats (10a) (col. 4, ll. 37-54).                                                        
                       The Appellant points out that Alcocer discloses sewing, stapling or                        
                adhesively securing bands or strips, and argues that it would not appear                          
                sufficient to adhesively secure shade material to a small cord at tiny finite                     
                locations (Br. 7, 9-12).  The Appellant’s claims do not require that the cord                     
                is small or that the adhesive beads are tiny.  The Appellant’s disclosure that                    
                it was known to use spacer cords or straps (Spec. 2:8) indicates that spacer                      
                cords need not be thin but, instead, can be more strap-like.  Regardless,                         
                because, in a window environment, pleated and roman shades tend to not be                         
                subject to physical abuse, one of ordinary skill in the art would have had a                      
                reasonable expectation that any of the alternative fastening techniques                           
                disclosed by Alcocer would be adequate to attach a spacer cord to a pleated                       
                or roman shade section at the vertically spaced locations in the Appellant’s                      
                prior art figures 1 and 3.                                                                        
                       The Appellant argues that because Alcocer uses spacer strips which                         
                require a large amount of adhesive, Alcocer would have led to one of                              
                ordinary skill in the art to use a large amount of adhesive to adhere a spacer                    
                cord to a pleat such that the cord is adhesively bonded along the top and                         
                bottom surfaces of the pleat (Br. 8-12; Reply Br. 1-2).  The Appellant                            





                                                        4                                                         

Page:  Previous  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  Next

Last modified: September 9, 2013