Appeal No. 96-3352 Page 2
Application No. 08/129,921
The subject matter on appeal relates to a pattern bonded
nonwoven fabric having at least one distinctly and visually
identifiable pattern of unbonded areas and wherein said fabric
also has a geometrically repeating and visually discernable
base pattern of bonded regions. Further details of this
appealed subject matter are readily apparent from a review of
illustrative independent claim 11 (the only independent claim
on appeal) which reads as follows:
11. A pattern bonded nonwoven fabric having at least one
distinctly and visually identifiable pattern of unbonded areas,
said fabric having a geometrically repeating and visually
discernable base pattern of bonded regions, said identifiable
pattern comprising a series of unbonded regions in said
geometric pattern of bonded regions, each unbonded region
forming an unbonded area which is enclosed by said bonded
regions surrounding said unbonded region, wherein said series
of unbonded areas forms said identifiable pattern, wherein said
bonded regions cover from about 3% to about 50% of the surface
of said nonwoven fabric, wherein the size of each of said
unbonded areas is equal to or less than about 0.3 cm , and2
wherein said nonwoven fabric comprises a nonwoven fiber web.
The references relied upon by the examiner in the
rejections before us are:
Humlicek 4,103,058 Jul. 25,
1978
Shimalla et al. (Shimalla) 4,774,124 Sep. 27,
1988
Hassenboehler, Jr. et al. 5,244,482 Sep. 14,
1993
(Hassenboehler)
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007