Appeal No. 2000-1728 Page 5
Application No. 08/785,128
adhesive 14, and adhesive 24 comprise the substantially continuous “union means” recited
in claim 1 that joins the two absorbent members together. We do not agree.
2
The common definition of “union” is uniting or joining two things into one. As
explained on page 18 of the appellants’ specification, the “union means” serves to “join”
the primary and secondary absorbent members together “with sufficient tenacity that the
primary absorbent member and the secondary absorbent member are not disconnected
during use” and are “affixed” to one another. Union can be accomplished by means such
as adhesives, heat sealing and ultrasonic welding (specification, page 4). There is no
such joining of the absorbent members in the napkin disclosed in the Japanese reference.
In the reference, the secondary (lowermost) absorbent member 1 comprises an absorbent
core 3 that is contained in a sleeve 2 fashioned from a folded sheet 4. The primary
(uppermost) absorbent member 20 comprises an absorbent core 21 contained in a cover
23. In order to construct a compound sanitary napkin, absorbent member 20 and its cover
23 (or core 31 and sleeve 32 of Figure 5) are inserted into a second sleeve portion 2 that
also is fashioned from folded sheet 4. It is an objective of the Japanese invention to have
free relative movement between the two absorbent members, and in furtherance of this,
absorbent member 20 is not attached to the inside of sleeve portion 2, and thus the two
absorbent members are not “joined” by “union means” in the manner required by claim 1
2Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition, 1996, page 1292.
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