Appeal No. 1998-0209
Application No. 08/452,153
determination which follows.
We affirm the rejection of claims 1 and 2 under 35 U.S.C.
§ 103. Based upon appellant’s grouping of the claims, supra,
the rejection of claims 3 and 4 is also affirmed since these
claims stand or fall with claims 1 and 2.
Turning to the evidence of obviousness, we find that the
Borse reference is directed to a disposable, blow-molded,
plastic urinal (col. 1, lines 3-7) having a snap-on closure.2
The urinal [15] disclosed by Borse includes a body [16], a
neck [17] extending from the upper part of the body and
terminating in a mouth [18], a handle [19] and a cap [20]
having a locking plate [21] lockable onto the handle [19] and
a closure portion [22] (col. 2, lines 20-28). The cap [20] is
molded of polyethylene of thin stock so as to be “readily
flexible” (col. 3, lines 34). The closure portion [22] is
described as “somewhat cup-shaped in cross-section” (id. at 61
Appellant refers to Borse’s cap as a “cork” (Brief, page 7). Borse,2
however, specifically states that “[t]he closure portion is formed to
facilitate snapping into sealed relation with the mouth of the neck” (col. 1,
lines 41-43, emphasis added).
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