Appeal No. 1999-0739
Application 08/747,663
alia, a plurality of rigid fingers. In claim 1, these rigid
fingers are said to provide means for parting the taste buds
of the tongue while applying a liquid directly to the surface
of the tongue. In claim 12, the rigid fingers are indicated
to be shaped and sized for movement across the tongue and as
including openings where the fingers come into contact with
the tongue for applying liquid to the tongue during use of the
device.
In rejecting claims 1 through 6 and 8 through 17
under 35 U.S.C. § 103 based on the Curtis patent, the examiner
has taken the position that Curtis discloses, in Figure 5, an
embodiment of the invention therein that can be considered to
be a tongue cleaning device and which has a plurality of
hollow bristles (e.g., 43 in Fig. 5), a liquid reservoir, and
means for
allowing the application of liquid to the tongue through the
hollow bristles (see particularly, Curtis col. 6, lines 19-
60).
While recognizing that the hollow bristles of the toothbrush
head (40) in Curtis Figure 5 are flexible and therefore not
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