Appeal No. 2003-0353 Page 4
Application No. 09/452,157
we note that the most suitable definition of web is "a continuous sheet of paper
manufactured or undergoing manufacture on a paper machine" and the most suitable
definition of sheet is "a usually rectangular piece of paper; especially: one
manufactured for printing.3
In the U.S. Patent Classification System, the line between Class 226,
ADVANCING MATERIAL OF INDETERMINATE LENGTH, and Class 271, SHEET
FEEDING OR DELIVERING, is based on disclosure of the material acted upon.
Patents which clearly disclose feed or delivery of sheet-like articles only, are placed in
Class 271, even though such structure is capable of feeding web material. Patents
which clearly disclose movement of web material as well as sheets and claim means
which is capable of moving either are placed in Class 226. Thus, the U.S. Patent
Classification System clearly differentiates sheets from webs as would a person of
ordinary skill in the art. While webs and sheets may be equivalent in some instances
and therefore it may have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person
of ordinary skill in the art to have utilized Rodi's ink drying process on printed webs,
such a modification of Rodi is only appropriate in a rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 103.4
3 Definitions obtained from Merriam-Webster Dictionary (http://www.m-w.com/home.htm).
4 No rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 103 is before us in this appeal.
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