Appeal No. 1998-2314 Page 5
Application No. 07/902,957
container, with the external shape being “other than in the form of a bag or envelope and
simulating the external configuration of an animate object.” The inflatable container also
has “graphic material on the exterior thereof . . . combining with said three-dimensional
shape to visually detail the animate object,” and comprises a pair of flexible panels
preformed to the predetermined three-dimensional external shape of the animate object,1
with at least one of the panels having the graphic material.
These claims stand rejected on the basis of the following rationale: The examiner
points out that Brandberg ‘045 discloses a microwave popcorn package comprising an
inflatable container and a mass of unpopped popcorn in the container which will generate
an inflation gas when popped, which results in the creation of a particular three-
dimensional external shape, and various other shapes for inflated microwave popcorn
containers are known in the art, as illustrated by Roccaforte, Mendenhall, Ylvisaker and
Winter. The examiner then asserts “[i]t is well established in the packaging art to shape
and/or design a container so that the container simulates a recognizable object other than
the container itself,” and “[t]o impart to any container any shape one desires through
conventional shaping, cutting, and the use of graphic design for its esthetic/entertainment
appeal is therefore seen to have been an obvious matter of design” (Answer, page 5). On
1We note an apparent inconsistency in claim 1, in that while the three-dimensional
shape is “of an animate object” in lines 12, 15 and 19, it is referred to as “the recognizable
character or article” in line 21. This is worthy of correction .
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