Appeal No. 1998-0243
Application 08/455,374
As we understand appellants’ disclosure, a reduction in decay2 in the waist elastic system is
achieved by reducing the area, or number of points, at which the waist elastic member is joined
to the surrounding or adjacent layer of material. As disclosed by appellants at page 9, lines 1 to
8:
The present invention selectively reduces the joined surface area, or the number of points
of joinder, between an elastic member and its respective layer to which it is joined. For
example, the elastic member may not be attached along its full length to the layer. The
present invention provides a plurality of selectively spaced apart, distinct adhesive zones.
By reducing the surface area of joinder between the elastic member and the layer of
material, there is a resultant reduction in the elastic member’s loss of elasticity.
Since Nomura discloses that the adhesive 32 for the waist elastic 4 may be applied in
“intermittent lines” (col. 7, lines 19 to 22), the elastic members 4 of Nomura would be joined to
the web at spaced apart points and therefore, according to appellants’ above-quoted disclosure,
this reduction in the surface area of joinder would inherently cause a reduction in the loss of
elasticity (decay) of the Nomura elastic members.
With regard to the specific figures recited in the last step of claim 1, the examiner states
(answer, page 5):
lacking any criticality in the specification, the use of materials having properties in the
claimed ranges solves no stated problem and would have been an obvious matter of
design choice within the skill in the art.
We do not agree with the examiner insofar as he may indicate that appellants’ invention “solves
2 “Decay” is defined at page 6, lines 8 and 9 of the specification as “a loss of tension at a
specific extension over a selected number of cycles.”
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