Appeal No. 98-1234
Application No. 08/516,214
2, lines 1-15, makes it clear that a brush (i.e., a completed
article) having a wooden handle, metal ferrule and bristle
portion "of usual construction, [which] may be purchased on
the market" is the article to which the elastomeric material
is applied. Marick then goes on to state that:
The wooden handle 10 may be coated with a rubber
composition such as given in the above example.
However, for coating the handle portion of the brush
it is deemed preferable to employ the conductive
properties of acetylene black used as a varnish,
lacquer or other synthetic resin coating. . . .
This coating may be applied to the brush handle by
painting, spraying, or dipping and in the case of
the brush shown in Fig. 1, it is important that the
coating upon both the bristles and the handle be so
applied that the coating shall reach or over-lap the
metal ferrule of the brush so as to form a
continuous conducting path from the bristles to the
brush handle. [Column 2, line 55 through column 3,
line 21; emphasis ours.]
From the above, when considering the teachings of Marick as a
whole, it is apparent that Marick teaches applying the
elastomeric outer coating to the handle of a completed brush
(which may be purchased on the market). When the handle of
such a completed brush is "dipped" in the manner described by
Marick, neither of the above-noted limitations (1) or (2)
would be satisfied. In other words, (a) only the portion of
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