Appeal No. 2006-0172
Application No. 10/460,478
also not well founded. As the examiner has pointed out, and appellant has conceded,
Zorbas discloses and shows in Figures 2a and 2b that the fabric edges of the slats are
affixed to the ladders. Since the ribs (24) are carried in the pockets (14) on the edges of
the fabric slats, it follows that the ribs (24) are indirectly fastened to the ladder members
by the connection between the fabric slats and the ladder members. We do not see that
claim 1 requires any more. In addition, we direct attention to the portion of appellant’s
specification spanning pages 5 and 6, wherein it is expressly noted that “because the
connection between the ladder tapes and the ribs in the slats is of the known art not
within the scope of the claims of the present invention, no further detailed description in
this regard is necessary.”
In light of the foregoing, we will sustain the examiner’s rejection of independent
claims 1 and 13 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) based on the combined teachings of Zorbas
and Kandel. Given appellant’s lack of any argument for the separate patentability of
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