Appeal No. 2004-0446
Application No. 09/747,601
1. A method of making adhesive wound closure material, the
method comprising:
providing a web that comprises a non-woven fabric
comprising binder fibers;
bonding at least one longitudinal reinforcing fiber
to the non-woven fabric, wherein the at least one
reinforcing fiber is coextensive with a length of the web;
microcreping the non-woven fabric and the at least
one reinforcing fiber so as to compress the non-woven fabric
and the at least one reinforcing fiber along the length of
the web; and
applying a layer of pressure sensitive adhesive to
the web.
The references set forth below are relied upon by the
examiner as evidence of obviousness:1
Ewall 4,977,892 Dec. 18, 1990
Scholz 5,405,643 Apr. 11, 1995
1In the “Response to Argument” section of the answer, the
examiner has attempted to reinforce his obviousness conclusion by
referring to and relying upon references which are not included
in his statement of rejection. Where a reference is relied on to
support a rejection, whether or not in a minor capacity, that
reference should be positively included in the statement of the
rejection. See In re Hoch, 428 F.2d 1341, 1342 n.3, 166 USPQ
406, 407 n.3 (CCPA 1970) and the Manual of Patent Examining
Procedure (MPEP) § 706.02(j)(Revision 1, February 2003).
Therefore, in assessing the merits of the rejection before us, we
will consider only the references included in the statement of
the rejection.
2
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