Appeal No. 2000-1607 Page 5
Application No. 09/084,486
Polyolefin is mentioned as a fiber that “may be satisfactorily used” in the Reynolds
invention (column 11, line 12; Table 3), but there is no explicit teaching that polyolefin
2
elastomer be used. The examiner opines that elastomeric properties for the “grass”
component are inherently disclosed by Reynolds in columns 11 and 12, but we find no
support for such a conclusion. Descriptive terminology such as “springy feel” (column 12,
line 4), “effectively simulates the vegetative layer of grass” (column 12, lines 1 and 2), and
“firm but pliable feel” (column 12, line 66), even if considered to apply to the simulated
grass of the Reynolds mat (which in our opinion is not clear), do not establish that the
simulated grass is an elastomer. Our conclusion that a polyolefin elastomer is not
contemplated by Reynolds is supported first by the fact that “elastomeric” is used only in
conjunction with the “turf-simulating core,” the description of which begins in column 12 at
line 58, and not the “grass,” and second that Table 4, which lists a number of elastomeric
polymers that can be used, does not include polyolefin.
The rejection of claim 1 as being anticipated by Reynolds is not sustained. Nor, it
follows, will we sustain the like rejection of claim 5/1, which depends from claim 1.
Dependent claims 2, 3, 4, 5/2, 5/3 and 5/4 stand rejected as being unpatentable
over Reynolds in view of Ballard. The second reference is cited for teaching animal
2The common definition of elastomer is an elastic substance resembling rubber.
See, for example, Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition, 1996, page
370.
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