Appeal No. 2000-1564
Application 08/924,307
separator paper requires a reduced number of laminates of
separator paper, thereby increasing the battery capacity
(pages 9 and 28).
In response to the appellants’ argument that there is no
suggestion in the references to form integrally laminated
layers such that the layers contain both cellulosic fibers and
synthetic fibers and have different characteristics (brief,
page 6), the examiner points out that Mizutani discloses
integrally laminating a cellulosic fiber layer and a synthetic
fiber layer and that JP ‘049 discloses mixing cellulosic
fibers and synthetic fibers in a single layer and discloses
laminating multiple layers (answer, page 7). One of ordinary 3
skill in the art, the examiner argues, would have varied the
values of the properties of the layers, such as airtightness,
liquid impregnate ratio and beating degree, depending on the
type and application of the battery (answer, page 6).
In order for a prima facie case of obviousness to be
established, the teachings from the prior art itself must
3This page number is based upon a renumbering of the
pages consecutively from 1 to 11. In the file, the fourth
page of the examiner’s answer is erroneously numbered as page
2 and at that point the page numbering is restarted.
-5-5
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007