Appeal No. 2006-0627
Application No. 10/263,140
chambers containing a buoyant material; and
an inflatable outer chamber having a flexible outer wall surrounding the
containment bags, so that the containment bags partially fill the outer chamber.
The examiner has relied on the following references as evidence of obviousness:
Lederman 4,011,611 Mar. 15, 1977
Spieldiener et al. (Spieldiener) 4,516,943 May 14, 1985
Givens 4,790,784 Dec. 13, 1988
Wolfe 5,304,082 Apr. 19, 1994
Hansen 2002/0096101 A1 Jul. 25, 2002
(published U.S. Patent Application)
Cooney 2 293 357 A Mar. 27, 1996
(published UK Patent Application)
The following rejections have been appealed:
(1) claims 1, 2, 5, 8, 9, 12, 14 and 15 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as
unpatentable over Spieldiener in view of Wolfe and Hansen (Answer, page 3);
(2) claims 3 and 10 stand rejected under § 103(a) over the references as recited
in (1) further in view of Cooney (Answer, page 4);
(3) claims 4 and 11 stand rejected under § 103(a) over the references as recited
in (1) further in view of Lederman (id.); and
(4) claims 7 and 13 stand rejected under § 103(a) over the references as recited
in (1) further in view of Givens (id.).
Based on the totality of the record, including due consideration of appellant’s
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