Appeal No. 96-2833
Application 08/202,772
Graiver discloses that a soap or other type of detergent
can be dispersed in a poly(vinyl alcohol) hydrogel (col. 5,
lines 18-26).
Fox discloses swelling a hydrogel with a treatment fluid
which can include a surfactant, applying the swollen hydrogel
to a textile surface, and applying force to cause the
treatment fluid to exude from the hydrogel to the textile
material (col. 2, lines 1-13 and 40-47; col. 6, lines 10-14).
The examiner argues that in Fox, a cleaning aid and a
liquid are mixed before a hydrogel is formed (answer, page 9).
If the examiner were correct, then the burden would shift to
appellants to provide evidence that Fox’s treatment
composition does not necessarily or inherently possess the
relied-upon encapsulation characteristic of appellants’
claimed soap. See In re Fitzgerald, 619 F.2d 67, 70, 205 USPQ
594, 596 (CCPA 1980); In re Best, 562 F.2d 1252, 1255, 195
USPQ 430, 433-34 (CCPA 1977); In re Fessmann, 489 F.2d 742,
745, 180 USPQ 324, 326 (CCPA 1974). The reason is that the
Patent and Trademark Office is not able to manufacture and
compare products. See Best, 562 F.2d at 1255, 195 USPQ at
11
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