Appeal No. 97-2229
Application No. 08/094,748
OPINION
Independent claims 1, 19 and 26 stand rejected as being
anticipated by Bachmann. These claims are directed to a3
garment folding apparatus which is completely removed from the
garment after folding. This is not the case with the Bachmann
device, which is disclosed as a coat hanger comprising a panel
12 that would appear to be intended to remain installed in the
garment. While Bachmann makes no mention of folding a
garment, it is our view that one of ordinary skill in the art
would have understood that at least the lower portion of the
garment is intended to be folded up along the bottom edge of
panel 12 before the panel is placed in box 7.
The cited claims require that the device have a main body
portion “having a flat, rectangular shape.” The overall shape
of Bachmann hanger 12 is not rectangular, but the examiner has
reasoned that this limitation can be read on the lower portion
of the Bachmann hanger, with the upper boundary being a line
3Anticipation is established only when a single prior art
reference discloses, expressly or under the principles of
inherency, each and every element of the claimed invention.
See RCA Corp. v. Applied Digital Data Systems, Inc., 730 F.2d
1440, 1444, 221 USPQ 385, 388 (Fed. Cir.), cert. dismissed sub
nom., Hazeltine Corp. v. RCA Corp., 468 U.S. 1228 (1984).
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