Appeal No. 95-0876
Application 08/006,517
is our finding that Esmay discloses a tape with the particular advantage that a liner is
unnecessary. According to Esmay, it is a virtue of his double-coated tape that the tape
can be wound directly upon itself for storage and shipment without any need for a
disposable liner. Esmay, column 2, lines 41-44. While we agree with the examiner that
the provision of a release liner on a double-sided adhesive tape is old and well known in
the adhesive tape art, we are not in agreement that provision of such a liner on the tape of
Esmay would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art. The provision of a
release liner in the invention of Esmay is contrary to the specific, express disclosure of that
patent. It is a singular advantage of Esmay that no release liner is necessary. Therefore
one of ordinary skill in the art would not find therein any suggestion for the modification of
the Esmay invention. For this reason the examiner has established no prima facie case of
obviousness with respect to claims 1 through 9, 13 through 15, and 21 through 23. The
rejection of these claims is reversed.
Rejection Pursuant to 37 CFR § 1.196(b)
It is our finding that Kellgren discloses a method of making a double-sided
repositionable tape. According to Kellgren, the adhesive tape provided by his invention is
a convenient and efficient way of “temporarily securing sheet material to various surfaces,
as for example labels, notices, posters, shelf and drawer lining paper, etc.” Kellgren,
9
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007