Appeal No. 1998-1939 Application No. 08/403,288 Gueret ‘011 discloses a brush having radially-extending bristles 2 for applying "a make-up product having a liquid to pasty consistency, especially mascara" (col. 2, lines 67 and 68). The patent teaches that in order to deposit a sufficient quantity of make-up while still being soft to avoid irritating contact with the eye (col. 1, lines 14 to 19 and 44 to 47; col. 4, lines 12 to 14), the bristles should be made of elastomeric or thermoplastic material, i.e. (col. 2, lines 32 to 37): The material is preferably selected from the following group of materials: silicone, EVA=ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer, polyether amide block copolymer, polyester elastomer, EPDM=ethylene propylene diene monomer rubber, polyurethane, SBS=styrene butadiene styrene, latex and nitrile butadiene rubber. In view of this disclosure of Gueret ‘011, we consider that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to make the axially-extending bristles of the brushes of Cole out of one of the materials disclosed by Gueret ‘011, supra, including a thermoplastic elastomer such as EPDM rubber, polyester elastomer, or SBS. Such a modification of the brushes of Cole, which, as discussed above, are disclosed 6Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 NextLast modified: November 3, 2007