Appeal No. 2002-1086
Application 09/297,065
In proposing to combine Hansson and Silver to reject claim
7, the examiner submits that
Silver teaches the concept of folding the bottom and top of
an outer container to form outer triangular wings as shown
in figure 5a to form block ends as shown by x. It would
have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the
time of the invention to provide Hansson et al with folding
means as taught by Silver to fold the outer wall in a known
manner to form a block end [answer, page 3].
The examiner’s position here is unsound for at least two
reasons.
To begin with, although both Hansson and Silver pertain to
multi-wall packages, these packages differ rather markedly from
one another. For example, the laminated relationship between
Silver’s inner and outer packaging components runs directly
counter to the unattached inner and outer packaging component
relationship desired by Hansson. The differences in package
construction necessitate the vastly dissimilar production
techniques described in the references. The only suggestion for
combining these disparate techniques in the manner advanced by
the examiner stems from hindsight knowledge impermissibly derived
from the appellants’ own teachings.
Furthermore, even if the Hansson and Silver methods were
combined as proposed by the examiner, the result would still not
meet steps ii-v in claim 7. The end panel folding steps shown in
6
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