Appeal No. 2000-0570
Application No. 09/028,943
Claim 6 stands rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being
unpatentable over Wilson in view of Osborn and Nagahama.
Attention is directed to the appellants' brief (Paper No.
7) and to the examiner's answer (Paper No. 8) for the
respective positions of the appellants and the examiner with
regard to the merits of these rejections.
DISCUSSION
Wilson, the examiner's primary reference, pertains to
dust control products such as mops and floor mats which
include antimicrobial agents to inhibit the growth of
undesirable organisms. In general, the floor mat embodiment
20 consists of a backing 21 and a plurality of yarns 22
projecting therefrom (see Figure 5). The backing may be made
of rubber and the yarns of nylon, and each may be fully
impregnated with an antimicrobial compound during its
manufacturing process (see column 2, lines 35 through 54; and
column 6, line 20, through column 7, line 60).
As conceded by the examiner (see page 2 in the answer),
the Wilson floor mat does not meet the limitation in claim 1
requiring the nylon yarns to be "solution dyed." Although the
underlying specification does not define the term "solution
-3-
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007