Appeal No. 1997-0529 Page 11
Application No. 08/573,884
applicant is under no burden to try every known
polymeric coating to be entitled to a reasonable breadth
of claim when clearly supported by the disclosure.
Applicant is entitled to coverage for any polymeric
coating on the warp and weft yarns of a fabric which
increases the coefficient of friction of said yarns in a
fabric for use to prevent penetration by bullets,
flechettes, etc..
The examiner's response (answer, p. 5) to this argument
of the appellant was as follows:
The appellant contends that the recitation of two
specific examples of polymeric coating materials entitles
the applicant to any polymeric material which increases
the coefficient of friction of the fiber to which it is
applied. Interactions between coatings and substrates,
however, are difficult to predict. Whereas the
coefficient of friction of a bulk solid may be readily
ascertained, the same cannot be said of a thin coating on
a fiber surface. Chemical interactions between the
coating and the fiber surface in the interfacial region
are by nature unpredictable and may result in a material
which, in the form of a thin coating, has markedly
different physical properties than the corresponding bulk
solid.
In our opinion the examiner has not met his burden of
proof by advancing acceptable reasoning inconsistent with
enablement for the following reasons.
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