Appeal No. 2002-1533
Application No. 09/055,377
Rudkin-Wiley Corp., 837 F.2d 1044, 1052, 5 USPQ2d 1434, 1439
(Fed. Cir. 1988).
In the present instance, the examiner contends (answer,
page 5) that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill
in the art to provide the outer container 14 of Zimmerman with a
lip having a inner recess and the inner container 10 with a rim
in sealing engagement with the inner recess “for the purpose of
securing the inner vessel to the outer vessel with no extraneous
parts as disclosed in Myers.” For the reasons that follow, we
cannot accept the examiner’s position.
In our opinion, the threaded connection 16 used by Zimmerman
to connect the upper portions of the containers 10 and 14
constitutes a relatively simple connection that comprises “no
extraneous parts.” This being the case, the examiner’s reason
for providing Zimmerman with the recess and extended rim
connection of Myers (i.e., for securing the vessels together
“with no extraneous parts”) is insufficient to justify the
proposed modification. Moreover, in that there is no disclosure
in Myers that the connection between the container 1 and the cup
9 can function as a seal, the proposed modification of Zimmerman
in view of Myers might very well compromise the operation of
Zimmerman by allowing thermoplastic material 18 to escape when it
9
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007