Appeal No. 2004-1053
Application No. 09/772,409
Brief, paragraph bridging pages 3-4). This argument is not
persuasive since, as noted by the examiner (Answer, page 11),
Hatton teaches that such a reduced length neck portion was known in
this art (see Figure 1). Therefore we agree with the examiner that
it would have been well within the ordinary skill in this art to
use any reduced length for the neck portion in Hatton as long as
the rope 40 (Figure 5) or string 182 (Figures 10-12) could go
through the folded neck portion and the neck has sufficient
strength to display the sign or banner. We note that with holes 29
or 166 (see Figures 1 and 7 of Hatton) used to display the sign or
banner (as per appellant’s Figures 2A and 6A-6D), the neck length
is immaterial.
With regard to claims 14, 15, 27 and 28, appellant argues that
neither the examiner nor the cited prior art has offered any
suggestion that the tab shape should be changed (Brief, page 13;
Reply Brief, page 4). This argument is not persuasive. As noted
by the examiner (Answer, page 11), Hatton teaches various shapes
for the tab portions (for the prior art and the Hatton invention -
see Figures 1 and 6). Furthermore, Hatton teaches that the shapes
of the corner tabs should be arranged to manufacture a plurality of
tabs with a minimum of waste material (col. 4, ll. 37-55; Figure
9). Thus, absent a showing of criticality, we agree with the
7
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007