Interference No. 105,019
Correa v. Roberts
persuasive, Correa must account for the standard or conventional width of the absorbent core. As
the moving party, Correa may not simply presume that applying the standard or conventional
width of absorbent cores for sanitary napkins at the time of filing of Correa's involved application
to Sneller's sanitary napkin will not result in dimensions which fit within the 2% to 35% range
specified in Correa's claim 5, or the 5% to 15% range specified in Correa's claim 6.
We have read Paragraph 24 of the declaration of Ms. Catherine Salerno (Exhibit 2008), a
technical witness having sufficient skill as a person of ordinary skill in the art, which states:
24. There is no reason I can see from Correa's claims or Roberts' claims
as a person experienced in this field why a person of ordinary skill in the art as of
1992 or 1993 would have chosen the widths of the cuffs relative to the width of
the absorbent core set forth in Correa claims 5 and 6. Although I agree that
persons of ordinary skill in this field might experiment with cuff widths, and would
not choose cuffs that are so wide as to occlude a major portion of the core, I am
not aware of anything known to the public prior to 1992 or 1993 that would have
given any worker in this field a reason to choose the particular cuff widths of
Correa claims 5 and 6.
The testimony of Ms. Salerno is unconvincing, for several reasons. First, it appears that Ms.
Salerno directs her analysis to the particular ranges recited in Correa's claims 5 and 6 rather than
a specific instance of core width measurement that falls within those ranges. It is not necessary
that the prior art teaches a "range" extending from a lower end to an upper end as is recited in
Correa's claims 5 and 6. Secondly, Ms. Salerno does not provide or indicate the known core
widths of sanitary napkins available at the time of filing of Correa's involved application. Lastly,
Ms. Salerno does not express what core width would have been considered standard or
conventional at the time. Ms. Salerno's testimony is too vague to be accorded the significance
desired by party Correa. We have substantial doubt that Ms. Salerno's testimony is that a core
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