Appeal No. 2007-0484 4
prior art. Specifically, the examiner points to elements 28 and 296 or elements 30
and 317 in Ducharme Figure 1.8 The examiner relies on elements 3 and 4 of
Walendy Figure 2 for panel domains extending through the thickness of the panel.9
Ducharme teaches insulating inserts for the cores of masonry building
blocks.10 Elements 28 and 29 are elongated internal cavities.11 Elements 30
and 31 are compression slots.12 Both the cavities and the slots terminate within the
insert, that is, they penetrate less than the full thickness of the insert.13 They
cooperate to permit compression of the insert to conform to the core of the building
block.14 While Ducharme's slots are shown traversing a face of the insert, the
cavities, by their very nature, do not traverse a face of the insert.
Walendy teaches fillers for hollow spaces in vehicle bodies.15 Element 4 is
the main body of the filler, while element 3 is an intermediate layer inserted within
6 FOA at 5.
7 Examiner's Answer (EA) at 5. Dow characterizes the examiner's reliance on
elements 30 and 31 as an improper new ground of rejection, but does not seek a
remedy. Reply at 4. Whatever the merits of Dow's characterization might be, Dow
did not petition for a remedy so we will proceed to judgment on the record we
have.
8 Elements 30 and 31 do not appear in Figure 1, but do appear in Figures 2, 3,
and 5. The reader is referred to http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html to view the
figures. Compliance costs associated with 29 U.S.C. 794d make it impractical to
reproduce figures in opinions routinely.
9 FOA at 4; EA at 4.
10 Column 1, lines 6-8 (1:6-8).
11 2:66.
12 2:68.
13 3:2-8; Fig. 2.
14 3:8-12.
15 1:9-15.
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