Appeal No. 98-0057
Application No. 08/320,016
The Fouss reference discloses a corrugated pipe having
inner and outer plastic layers. The inner layer contains
carbon black to inhibit degradation due to ultraviolet
radiation, and the outer layer contains titanium dioxide to
provide the pipe with a white, light reflective exterior
surface. The examiner concedes that Fouss’s two-layer pipe
construction differs from appellant’s claimed invention in
that Fouss’s light-reflective layer is on the exterior of the
pipe rather than the interior of the pipe. He nevertheless
contends that the teachings of Prassas would have made it
obvious to reverse the order of Fouss’s plastic layers. We
disagree.
Prassas discloses a porous pipe in which a single layer
wall is formed from rubber particles 14 coated with a film of
binder resin 18. According to Prassas’s teachings, the film of
binder resin contains carbon black 24 to inhibit degradation
due to ultraviolet light. Such a teaching does not amount to a
suggestion of placing Fouss’s light-reflective layer on the
inside of the pipe or of interiorly lining Fouss’s pipe with a
light-reflective layer. Furthermore, Fouss expressly teaches
that the light-reflective layer should be on the exterior of
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