Appeal No. 97-3703 Page 11
Application No. 08/110,349
of crushing the dunnage between the blade and the table
surface during cutting. Further, as the dunnage strip is
conveyed away from the dunnage machine by being wound on the
rotating shaft (110) of the transfer vehicle, alignment of the
trailing edge of the severed strip with the outlet of the
dunnage machine is not
critical. Therefore, we see no reason why one of ordinary
skill in the art would have been motivated to provide an
alignment or anti-crushing mechanism of the type taught by
Scott on the Ottaviano device.
We have also reviewed the teachings of Giordano but find
nothing therein which would overcome the deficiencies of the
combination of Ottaviano and Scott discussed above.
Accordingly, we cannot sustain the examiner's rejection of
claim 26 under 35 U.S.C. § 103.
Double Patenting Rejections
"Obviousness-type" double patenting is a judicially
created doctrine that prevents an unjustified extension of the
patent right beyond the statutory limit. It precludes
issuance of a second patent when the claimed subject matter is
not patentably distinct from the subject matter claimed in a
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