Appeal No. 2002-1213
Application No. 09/293,019
positions articulated by appellants and the examiner.1 As a
consequence of our review, we have made the determination which
follows.
In rejecting claims 1 through 38 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a)
on the basis of the collective teachings of the AAPA, Boucherie
and Lui, it is the examiner's position (answer, pages 3 and 4)
that the AAPA discloses that 1) toothbrush bodies are generally
made by injection molding machines, 2) different components of
the toothbrush bodies may differ in characteristics, such as
color, and 3) during manufacture the toothbrush bodies are
automatically removed from the molding machine and deposited onto
a cooling conveyor (specification, page 1, lines 12-24). In
addition, the AAPA is said to disclose that a conveyor removes
the toothbrush bodies and orients them to receive the tufts of
bristles and that the toothbrushes are automatically deposited
onto a tray upon completion of the manufacturing operation
(specification, page 1, lines 25-34). What the examiner finds
lacking in the AAPA is any teaching of molding toothbrushes
1 Our review of the examiner's answer reveals that the
entire discussion in the lower half of page 4 of the answer
should apparently be with regard to Lui and not Boucherie as the
examiner indicates.
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