Appeal No. 2005-0958
Application No. 09/944,477
columns 1 and 2. Referring to one of the embodiments, Ness
teaches (column 2, lines 17-27) that:
In another embodiment of the process of the present
invention, a partially stretched elastic member is
intermittently bonded to a substrate which, prior to
stretching, is less easily extensible than the elastic
member to form an elastic composite, and thereafter
stretching selected areas of the composite to a
selected degree. The composite may be incorporated
into garments or bandages during manufacture and may be
selectably [sic, selectively] stretched prior to
wearing or while worn.1
The examiner acknowledges that Ness does not teach, inter alia,
forming a composite sheet having “individual thermoplastic fibers
of the second web . . . neither fused nor mechanically entangled
tightly with each other between discrete areas where the first
and second webs are joined together . . . , ” after it is
stretched and retracted. See the Answer, pages 9-12.
To remedy this and other deficiencies in Ness, the examiner
relies on the disclosure of Sisson.2 See the Answer in its
entirety. The examiner alleges that Sisson teaches, inter alia,
1 The examiner has not referred to any specific columns and
lines in Ness, which are said to teach retracting the composite
after its stretching.
2 Austin is not relied upon to show a composite sheet having
“individual thermoplastic fibers of the second web . . . neither
fused nor mechanically entangled tightly with each other between
discrete areas where the first and second webs are joined
together . . . . ” See the Answer, pages 8-12
4
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