Appeal No. 98-0198
Application No. 08/544,299
disclosure. See, for example, Uniroyal, Inc. v. Rudkin-Wiley
Corp., 837 F.2d 1044, 1052, 5 USPQ2d 1434, 1052 (Fed. Cir.),
cert. denied, 488 U.S. 825 (1988). The objective of the
appellant’s invention is to provide a bottom and top sheet
combination that is very easy to install upon a mattress, even
if the bed is against a wall. The essence of the invention,
in the language of claim 1, is that the bottom and top sheets
are attached together along their bottom edges and along “a
substantial majority” of the length of one of their side
edges, while being “free from connection” along “a substantial
majority” of the length of the other of their side edges. The
French reference also teaches attaching together bottom and
top sheets. However, while the sheets are attached together
at their bottom ends, as is the appellant’s arrangement, both
of their side edges are attached along “the lower half”
(translation, page 3), which differs from the appellant’s
invention. Mendyk is directed to a safety sheet system in
which the bottom and top sheets are not attached together at
either the top or the bottom ends, but are attached together
along the full length of both of their side edges. It is the
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