Appeal No. 1997-0312
Application No. 08/371,311
1. A monofilament comprising a blend of:
a polyester consisting essentially of a condensation product of a
polyhydric alcohol component of 1,4-cyclohexane-dimethanol, and a
hexacarbocyclic dicarboxylic acid; a polyamide; and a polyolefin.
The examiner relies upon the following references as evidence of obviousness:
Eagles et al. (Eagles) 5,169,499 Dec. 08, 1992
Sham et al. (Sham) 5,270,401 Dec. 14, 1993
Appellants' claimed invention is directed to a monofilament comprising a blend of
the recited components, i.e., a specific polyester, a polyamide and a polyolefin. The
claimed monofilament finds utility in making fabrics for papermaking machinery.
Appealed claims 1 and 4-14 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being
unpatentable over Sham, taken alone, or in combination with Eagles.
Upon careful consideration of the opposing arguments presented on appeal, we
agree with appellants that the applied prior art fails to establish a prima facie case of
obviousness for the claimed subject matter. Accordingly, we will not sustain the examiner's
rejection.
We agree with the examiner that the claim language "consisting essentially of" does
not exclude the polyester of Sham that may contain as little as 1% by weight of an
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