Appeal No. 95-2221
Application No. 07/994,072
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary
skill in the art at the time the invention was made
to heat above the melting point of the first fibers
in the method of Parker in order to provide desired
stiffness and rigidity, as taught by Peoples. It
further would have been obvious to perform the
process without the use of pressure since (1)
pressure is not required as shown by O'Connor, and
since (2) molding is not necessary where the product
is not shaped, as shown by Schwan. The present
invention appears to be the product of Parker
without a three dimensional shape. Parker and
Peoples uses pressure to impart shape to the
product. However, if the intended use of the
product does not require it to be shaped, one could
perform the process without the use of pressure, as
shown by O'Connor and Schwan [emphasis added].
We have no doubt that one of ordinary skill in this art
"could" have modified Parker's process to exclude the
application of pressure, i.e., to exclude molding. However,
the examiner has not adequately and persuasively explained why
one of ordinary skill in this art would have been led to do
so. Indeed Parker is specifically directed to a process for
forming decorative shaped products. Thus Parker's process
requires shaping or molding, and to achieve this, Parker
utilizes a method in which "immediately" after heat treatment,
a composite is laminated and press molded into a desired
shape. See Parker at column 3, lines 19-36. Thus, producing
a product that does not require shaping is inconsistent with
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