Appeal No. 2005-1386
Application No. 10/010,620
a lofty, second nonwoven layer having stable, uncompacted
crimped homofilament fibers substantially free of melt bonding and
having sufficient integrity to withstand high speed web transfer;
and
the second nonwoven layer and the first nonwoven layer bonded
with sufficient integrity to withstand high speed web transfer.
The examiner has relied on the following references as
evidence of obviousness:
Kane et al. (Kane) 4,359,445 Nov. 16, 1982
Arnold et al. (Arnold) 5,707,468 Jan. 13, 1998
The claims on appeal stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a)
as unpatentable over Arnold in view of Kane (Answer, page 3). We
affirm the examiner’s rejection of product claims 21-25, 27 and 29-
38 essentially for the reasons stated in the Answer and our reasons
set forth below. We reverse the examiner’s rejection of process
claims 7-11, 13 and 15-20 essentially for the reasons stated in the
Brief, Reply Brief, and those reasons set forth below.
Accordingly, the decision of the examiner is affirmed-in-part.
OPINION
The examiner finds that Arnold discloses a method of making a
nonwoven fabric comprising depositing a nonwoven layer such as a
spunbonded nonwoven onto a belt, subjecting it to a hot air knife
(HAK)in order to impart sufficient structural integrity to the
layer for further processing, and depositing additional nonwoven
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