Appeal No. 2002-1080 17
Application No. 09/372,149
“standard surgical tape adhesives” (column 3, lines 12-14), (2) the adhesive 92 of
McCarthy “must not be so very tenacious that it will remove skin when it is stripped from
the foot” (column 3, lines 22-23), (3) “ready strippability is essential” for McCarthy’s
adhesives (column 3, lines 30-31), and (4) upon removal of the shoe, the adhesive 92
“strips cleanly from the foot” (column 3, lines 42-43). Based on these disclosures, we
conclude that the adhesive 92 of McCarthy is akin to adhesives of the type used in
BAND-AIDS™, and that one skilled in the art would consider adhesive 92 as being
within the range of adhesives covered by claim 21.
In light of the above, we shall sustain the standing rejection of claim 21.
Claims 22 and 23
Claim 22 is directed to a foot protector comprising a resilient sheet member of
substantially uniform thickness in a range of about 1mm to about 5mm, and a tack
adhesive layer provided on at least a portion of the foot-contact surface of the resilient
sheet. Appellant argues (main brief, page 23) that the thickness range limitation
patentably distinguishes claim 22 over the applied references; however, for the reasons
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