Appeal No. 2006-1088
Application No. 09/974,400
flange can be reasonably considered as an attachment point
rather than a flange.
Appellant contends that the claim limitation regarding the
flange extending laterally from one side only of the
interlocking member “is quite different from the Yeager
reference which discloses a construction where the zipper,
including the profiles and flanges, are completely within the
reclosable bag” (page 4 of brief, last paragraph). However, as
properly noted by the examiner, the zipper of the claimed
invention is also employed within a reclosable bag (see
appellant’s Figure 15).
Appellant also maintains that “[a] slider-operated zipper
could not function with the apparatus disclosed by the Yeager
reference as such a flange would prevent the slider from
functioning” (id.). However, appellant has not rebutted the
examiner’s reasonable position that “the flanges [of Yeager] are
only bonded at the end portions and therefore the slider could
still operate between the bonded portions” (page 4 of answer,
second paragraph). As for appellant’s argument that a slider
for the Yeager zipper “would be positioned within the bag and
out of reach” (page 5 of brief, first paragraph), we do not
understand how the zipper would be out of reach once the outer
4
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007