Appeal No. 2002-0417
Application No. 08/973,213
benefit of letting part of the process proceed during storage or
transportation" (page 4 of Answer, second paragraph).
While we understand the examiner's logic regarding
completing the curing process during storage or transportation,
we agree with the arguments raised in appellants' Reply Brief
that such curing during storage or transportation does not bring
about the claimed process of holding the wound fiber at a
particular temperature and time before rewinding the fiber. The
examiner has not set forth any rationale which explains why it
would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to
control the holding time before performing the rewinding step
disclosed by Roderburg. As a result, the examiner's conclusion
of obviousness does not have the requisite factual support.
While the examiner notes that at room temperature of 25°C the
value of the recited relationship is 48 hours, and "one would
immediately visualize storing/transporting fibers to take at
least 48 hours" (page 5 of Answer, penultimate paragraph), the
examiner has pointed to no teaching or suggestion of effecting a
holding time of 48 hours before performing the rewinding step of
Roderburg. The examiner's statement that "[l]etting a spool of
fiber sit at room temperature for 48 hours is hardly a new
invention" does not address the claimed requirement that the
-4-
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007