Appeal No. 98-0808
Application No. 08/566,689
As can be seen by Sanchez these con[n]ectors may
occupy a variety of locations on the shoulders and
shoulder b[l]ade area. [Pages 5 and 6.]
From the above, it is appears that the examiner's position is
bottomed on the belief that, since "in most conventional
situations" a particular item of lingerie "only has two
shoulder straps," Baldwin teaches or suggests a "connector"
clip for connecting together a pair of shoulder straps of a
single item of lingerie (which straps extend over different
shoulders of a user).
We do not support the examiner's position. "A rejection
based on section 103 must rest on a factual basis, and these
facts must be interpreted without hindsight reconstruction of
the invention from the prior art. . . . [The examiner] may
not . . . resort to speculation, unfounded assumptions or
hindsight reconstruction to supply deficiencies in . . . [the]
. . . factual basis." In re Warner, 379 F.2d 1011, 1017, 154
USPQ 173, 178 (CCPA 1967). It does not follow that just
because (1) most individual items of lingerie have only two
shoulder straps (one for each shoulder) and (2) Baldwin states
"lingerie shoulder straps may be engaged between the adjacent
ends" of the holder or clip, that there is a teaching or
4
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007