Appeal No. 2004-1246
Application No. 09/960,948
provides comfort when the user is maneuvering the toothbrush around
in the mouth or applying pressure to the brush head, actions that
typically result in contact between the distal end of the
toothbrush and the palm or heel of the user’s hand. The distal tip
34 also flexes (arrow A and dotted line, Figure 2) to accommodate
the curvature of the heel of the hand, and to allow the end of the
toothbrush body to move about in the hand without causing user
discomfort. The finger-gripping region 12 is cushioned for more
comfortable, secure gripping between the thumb and index finger.
This cushioning is provided by resilient element 28, together with
the front portion 31 of resilient element 30 (the portion that is
located on the opposite side of the handle 26 from resilient
element 28). Again, the resilient elements generally provide a
non-slippery gripping area, and give the handle a softer feel
during brushing.
In my view, there is no motivation in the combined teachings
of Kemmerer and Beals that would have made it obvious at the time
the invention was made to a person of ordinary skill in the art to
have provided Kemmerer’s handle 32 with an overshell of either
compressible material (claim 1) or non-rigid material (claim 12).
While Beals does teach a toothbrush having a handle having an
overshell of a compressible, non-rigid material, Beals does not
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