Appeal No. 2000-0583
Application No. 08/955,984
OPINION
In reaching our decision in this appeal, we have given
careful consideration to the appellants' specification and
claims, to the Levy reference, and to the respective positions
articulated by the appellants and the examiner. As a
consequence of our review, we make the determinations which
follow.
Claims 1 and 5
Independent claim 1 reads as follows:
1. An oriented balloon of thermoplastic material
prepared by the method of extruding a hollow tube of
the thermoplastic material, and subsequently
expanding the tube by subjecting the tubing , while3
in a mold, to an elevated temperature and an
increased interior pressure to produce an oriented
balloon, wherein the tube is subjected to a drying
step prior to said expanding step, thereby
increasing the strength of the balloon relative to a
reference balloon prepared in the same manner,
except for said drying step.
Claim 1 recites an oriented thermoplastic balloon by
listing the process steps used to obtain it. This type of
claim is commonly referred to as a product-by-process claim.
A product-by-process claim is, however, directed to the
It appears that "tubing" should be "tube" for consistency.3
3
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