Appeal No. 2000-2045 Page 7
Application No. 09/206,253
a reference is reasonably pertinent if, even though it may be in a different field of endeavor,
it logically would have commended itself to an inventor's attention in considering his
problem because of the matter with which it deals (see In re Clay, 966 F.2d 656, 659, 23
USPQ2d 1058, 1061 (Fed. Cir. 1992)). In our opinion, at the very least, Cornish logically
would have commended itself to an inventor considering the problem of providing the
opening in a package with a tamper-evident label, and therefore we consider it to be
analogous art.
Looking now to our reasoning, Cornish is directed to a bag-like package
comprising a reclosable opening at or near its top which is spanned by a tamper-evident
band. Before relating the Cornish package to the language of the appellants’ claims, we
must state that we differ with the examiner’s interpretation of what constitutes the top,
bottom, and sides of the Cornish package. In our view, and with reference to the
description in columns 2 and 3 and the drawings, the “top” of the container is where the
reclosable seal means 18 and 19 are located, the “bottom” is the opposite portion of the
container where bottom seam 16 is located, and the “sides” are the panels extending
therebetween. This having been said, however, one cannot ignore the fact that the Cornish
tamper-evident band is described as “encompassing the package 10 and bonded to [the]
bag panels” (column 4, lines 25 and 26), in the course of which it “passes across the
access opening [of the package] and . . . serves as a tamper-evident feature” (column 1,
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