Appeal 2007-0619
Application 10/178,008
IV. ISSUE
Is there some teaching or suggestion to employ the injection molded
plastic stamp master (mold or mold surface) taught by Shepard as the stamp
master (mold or mold surface) in the method described in Kumar within the
meaning of 35 U.S.C. § 103(a)?
V. RELEVANT FACTUAL FINDINGS
1. The Appellants have not disputed the Examiner’s findings at page 3 of
the Answer that:
Kumar et al. disclose or suggest the basic claimed method of
forming an elastomeric printing stamp including (1) providing a
plastic stamp master, wherein the stamp master has a pattern
and the pattern has at least one feature below 100 microns in
size (column 4, line 60), (2) casting an elastomeric printing
stamp using the stamp master or mold by contacting an
elastomer to the stamp master or mold (column 8, lines 30-49),
and (3) curing, hardening or crosslinking the elastomeric
printing stamp. (See Br. 3-6 and Reply Br. 1-5).
2. The Appellants have not challenged the Examiner’s findings at pages
3 and 4 of the Answer that:
The [E]xaminer takes Official Notice that it is known to check
dimensions of products, as in claim 2, in order to ensure that
product quality standards are met…..
Hawker et al., at column 1, lines 15-36, note that it is known to
use an elastomeric printing stamp to transfer a pattern using soft
lithography and further note at column 7, lines 30-37 that
Kumar et al., among others, practice such a soft lithography
technique…The [E]xaminer takes Official Notice that it is
known to assess quality of a transferred pattern, as in claim 4,
in order to determine if a product is meeting desired
specifications. (See Br. 3-6 and Reply Br. 1-5).
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