Appeal No. 1998-3309 6 Application No. 08/618,306 generate pressure within the container” includes a spring 35 which mounts the applicator head on the container for movement into and out of the container. In operation, the container is first inverted wetting the inner surface 28 of the applicator head and then, by capillary action, liquid flows through the pores of the applicator head. When the head is applied to the skin, the pressure on the head pushes the head into the container increasing the pressure in the container, forcing liquid out through the pores of the head and supplementing the capillary flow. The capillary pressure compensation valve 45 allows air to enter the container to prevent a vacuum from building up within the container when pressure on the head is released and the head moves out of the container. See col. 4, l. 60 et seq. In the examiner’s statement of the grounds of the rejections, the examiner described Berghahn as disclosing the recited pore size (although pore size is not recited in claim 15) and determined that it would have been obvious to substitute “such a material [presumably the applicator element 4 of Berghahn] with the given pore size.” See answer, p. 3. The examiner identified the motivation for this substitution as “thePage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 NextLast modified: November 3, 2007