Appeal No. 95-4148
Application 08/113,661
inasmuch as a number of hardnesses appear suitable
depending on the individual wearer [answer, page 6].
Berger discloses a variety of tensioning strip/supporting
strap structural units for use on a shoe, and contains a fair
suggestion that certain attributes of each may be mixed and
matched. Berger, however, does not teach and would not have
suggested a shoe having structural units meeting the above noted
limitations in claims 1 and 21. The mere fact that Berger’s
tightening bands or supporting straps may be made of a
transparent or translucent material as disclosed at column 11,
lines 62-66 and that Berger’s closing flaps or tensioning strips
may be made of a hard elastic material as disclosed at column 4,
lines 48-54 does not provide any reasonable basis for the
examiner’s determination the tensioning strips have a greater
stiffness than the supporting straps. Nor does Berger’s
discussion of the Shore A hardness of the closing flaps or
tensioning strips provide any suggestion that the stiffness of
these strips is, or should be, greater than that of the
tightening bands or supporting straps. Spencer, Pasternak and/or
Bernhard are of no avail to the examiner in this regard since
they do not cure the noted deficiencies of Berger vis-a-vis the
subject matter recited in claims 1 and 21.
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