Appeal No. 97-2116
Application 07/789,802
of Roales. In this regard, merely stating that the label of
Roales, which is shrunk onto the container only at the tapered
end portions of the container, will by its very nature
function in the manner called for in the claim does not
suffice. In light of the foregoing, we will not sustain the
examiner’s rejection of claim 1 as being anticipated by
Roales, or claims 3, 5, 6 and 8 which depend therefrom.
Claims 7 and 9 depend from claim 1 and add that the
thermoplastic sleeve is formed of polyester material and
polyethylene terephthalate, respectively. In rejecting these
claims, the examiner has additionally relied on Conklin for a
teaching that these material are well known heat shrinkable
materials. Even if we accept that it would have been obvious
to make the sleeve of Roales of the materials called for in
claims 7 and 9 in view of Conklin’s teaching, the resulting
modified Roales article would not necessarily correspond to
the subject matter of claim 1, much less claims 7 and 9. See
the discussion supra of claim 1. Furthermore, the examiner
has not explained, and it is not apparent to us, where the
combined teachings of Roales and Conklin disclose, suggest or
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