Appeal No. 98-1252 Page 14
Application No. 08/642,184
the dispenser of Paulson, as modified by Grussmark, with a
bottom wall having a footprint that is greater than the top
wall thereof in view of the teachings of White. Even if we
were to agree with the examiner that it would have been obvious
to combine the teachings of the references in the manner
proposed, we must point out that the claimed invention would
not result. That is, claim 16 expressly requires that the
socket means on the cap frictionally receive the side wall of
the dental floss dispenser. The examiner has relied upon
Grussmark for a teaching of mounting a dental floss holder on
the cap of the toothpaste container by means of a socket. In
Grussmark, however, the socket formed by the peripheral wall 18
does not engage the side wall of the dental floss dispenser
but, instead, is spaced therefrom (see, e.g., Fig. 3).
Instead, in Grussmark only the peripheral end of the top wall
20 of the dental floss dispenser frictionally engages the
socket. This being the case, we will not sustain the rejection
of claim 16 under 35 U.S.C. § 103 based on the combined
teachings of Paulson, Grussmark and White.
Rejection (5)
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