Appeal No. 1999-2628 Page 4
Application No. 08/652,723
Wall discloses a similar device (barber's glove) for holding and clamping sections of
hair for cutting. Wall, in particular, discloses provision of arcuate detents (51 in Figure 9 or
the tapered versions 42 in Figure 10) on one of the confronting surfaces of the device and a
channel (illustrated but unnumbered in Figure 10; corresponding element numbered 67 in
Figure 12 and bounded by flanges 68, 69) on the other confronting surface which is
superposed over the detents when the confronting surfaces are brought together. A foam
cushion is contained in the channel and arranged to receive and conform about the detents so as
to form mating surfaces, thereby engaging all the hair disposed between the confronting
surfaces. The purpose of the detents and channel is to cause lifting of the distal ends of the hair
a varying amount so as to provide a serrated cut edge (column 5, lines 59-61) to permit the hair
ends to blend in with the remaining hair (column 1, lines 39-48). As explained, for example,
in column 5, lines 62-67, strands of hair will end up being different lengths after cutting,
depending on whether they pass across the crest of the narrow outer surface of a detent 42,
between the detents or across a detent at a location offset from its crest. The examiner
determines that it would have been obvious to provide the apparatus of Maggiore with comb
teeth and a corresponding superposed groove on the hair engaging surfaces of the legs in view
of the teachings of Wall in order to consistently and simply provide a uniform serrated edge to
the distal ends of the cut hair (answer, page 5).
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