Appeal 2006-2347
Application 10/245,350
bands independent of the crotch cloth (19) (col. 5, lines 31-34 and 38-41). In
Figures 3 and 4 of Wada, the sanitary panty is shown fitted on the wearer’s body
(col. 5, lines 62-64). When worn on a wearer’s body, the leg openings (25) are
fitted on the femoral regions of the wearer (col. 6, lines 11-12). Johnson further
describes that the length of the panty from the waist to the leg opening is longer
than the length from the waist to the crotch (col. 6, lines 12-33) (describing an
inseam dimension H of at least 30 mm, preferably greater than or equal to 40 mm,
with an upper limit of 300 mm). As such, Wada is clearly teaching a garment in
the nature of a short that extends to cover or encircle the wearer’s legs. Wada
further teaches that its leg bands prevent the problems resultant from conventional
high-cut leg type sanitary panties, in which the sanitary napkin tends to collapse
toward the center and the edges of the leg openings tend to roll up easily, thereby
causing the fitting of the sanitary napkin to become more unstable (col. 1, line 48 –
col. 2, line 25).
We find this explicit teaching in Wada would have led one having ordinary
skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have modified the
conventional panty garment of Johnson to extend the leg portions so that the cloth
backsheet (26) covers or encircles the legs of the wearer, to prevent rolling up of
the edge portion of the leg openings and to ensure stable fitting of the absorbent
core (28) of Johnson. We further note that panty style, e.g., bikini, hip-hugger,
brief, or short-type, etc., is a matter of consumer taste, and it would have been
obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to make the panty of Branch in a
short-type style to make it more widely appealing to consumers of varying tastes
8
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007