Appeal No. 2000-1302 Page 4
Application No. 08/766,057
examiner should review the claim and disclosure and take
appropriate action with regard to this issue.
The examiner characterizes the admitted prior art on
pages 3-4 of the answer as follows:
On page 1 of the specification, the construction of
existing school bus seats is disclosed. In general,
the bus seats are comprised of a metal frame and a
plywood superstructure. Plywood is installed on the
back of the frame and on the seat portion of the
frame. Preformed foam cushions are then placed on
the plywood, presumably to cover the top of the seat
portion and both sides of the seat back, after which
vinyl is stretched over the cushions and sewn
together. The vinyl is easily torn, and vandalism
is quite common, particularly on the rear of the bus
seat. Although no specific disclosure is provided
as to how vandalized bus seats are repaired, common
sense would tend to suggest at least the following
options. The torn vinyl can be removed and the
existing plywood and cushions can be recovered with
new vinyl. Alternately, depending on the extent of
the vandalism, all of the components of the bus seat
(excluding the seat frame) can be replaced.
However, there is no suggestion in appellant’s
admitted prior art to replace those components with
sections of plywood having elastomer skinned
urethane foam adhered thereto.
Appellant does not contest the findings of the examiner with
regard to the admitted prior art. Appellant also does not
appear to challenge the examiner’s determination that it would
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