Appeal No. 2003-0992
Application 09/934,026
Similarly, as for claim 6, Kuhn’s pallet material which is all non-conductive plastic
except for one or more spikes driven therethrough, either made of metal or conductive carbon
particles within a binder,3 is very much indeed “a plastic material including conductive material
in at least a portion of said plastic material.” The metal spikes are in all directions surrounded in
space by the non-conductive plastic and thus are reasonably deemed to be within the plastic
material or at least within a portion of the plastic material. Even with regard to the alternative
embodiment in Kuhns using spikes made of conductive particles embedded in a binder, the
conductive particles are nonetheless still within the space defined by the surrounding plastic
material. In either case, Kuhns’ pallet material designed to dissipate or avoid static electrical
charge is a plastic material including conductive material in at least a portion of said plastic
material for dissipating electrical charges as is recited in claim 6.
The level of ordinary skill in the art is not high and is reflected by the prior art references
Dresen and Kuhns themselves. It is manifestly evident that one with ordinary skill in the art
would have recognized that if the material disclosed by Kuhns would work to dissipate static
electrical charge when used to construct a pallet, which is any form of a tray, platform, or carrier
for supporting, storing, and transporting by rail or by truck various types of goods and articles, it
would do the same as the material for a bed liner in a pickup truck. The bed of a pickup truck is
3 Kuhns discloses that its conductive particles can be carbon particles. (Column 4,
lines 24-25)
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