Appeal No. 2001-2213 Page 4
Application No. 09/399,418
material having first and second planar surfaces which are coated with an abrasive
material (see figure 6) and grasping means with indentations; (2) Burtch discloses a
sanding tool having a sponge material made from open-celled foamed polyurethane
allowing the tool to be more flexible; (3) Walsh does not disclose the sponge material
being open-celled foamed polyurethane; and (4) it would have been obvious to one having
ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have modified the elastomer
rubber sponge material of Walsh by forming it from an open-celled foamed polyurethane
material as taught by Burtch.
Claim 1, the only independent claim on appeal reads as follows:
A sanding tool comprising a compressible sponge formed from an open-
celled foamed polyurethane, said sponge having first and second planar surfaces
meeting at a right angle, said surfaces being coated with an abrasive material in at
least the area of the surfaces adjacent the right angle and, in the portion of the
sponge enclosed between the first and second surfaces, a grasping means forming
an integral portion of the sponge.
Based on our analysis and review of the embodiment of Walsh's utility tool relied
upon by the examiner and claim 1, it is our opinion that the examiner did not correctly
1
ascertain the differences. In that regard, in addition to the difference noted by the
1After the scope and content of the prior art are determined, the differences between the prior art
and the claims at issue are to be ascertained. Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 17-18, 148 USPQ
(continued...)
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