Appeal No. 1996-2873
Application No. 08/209,194
According to page 8, lines 17-22, of the specification,
the claimed shape of an aqueous soluble drain sanitizing
article is not only useful for accommodating the funneling
nature of drains, but also useful for providing “maximum
contact between the chemical sanitizer ... and drain run-
off...” Notwithstanding silence regarding the claimed shape
of an aqueous soluble drain sanitizing article in the
references relied upon by the examiner, the examiner states
(Answer, page 5) that
since the donut shape of the instant invention is
one of general knowledged [sic], and since the
primary reference [Mortimer] permits [the use] of
any shape,...it would be obvious to attain the shape
of the instant invention, since any shape would
include the known donut shape.
However, the fatal flaw in the examiner’s statement is that
there is no suggestion or motivation to shape the aqueous
soluble drain sanitizing article of the type described in
Mortimer into the so-called “donut shape”. The examiner
simply has not proffered any evidence that it is desirable to
use the “donut shape” in the sanitizing art. Nor has the
examiner demonstrated that the “donut shape” is known to be
used in the sanitizing art. On this record, for the reasons
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