Appeal No. 2006-2374 Page 2
Application No. 10/164,670
BACKGROUND
The appellants’ invention relates to a reclosable bag having gusset sidewalls
that are bonded to front and rear walls of the bag opposite the reclosable seal to
form volume regions that are removed from the volume of the reclosable bag. This
bonding assists in forming a substantially flat bottom to the reclosable bag. The
bonding also precludes material used to fill the bag from flowing into the removed
volume regions. Claim 25, reproduced below, is representative of the subject
matter on appeal. A copy of all of the claims on appeal can be found in the
appendix to the appellants’ brief.
25. A reclosable bag comprising a front wall, a rear
wall and two sidewalls, each sidewall connecting the
front wall to the rear wall, each sidewall having a gusset
along a substantial portion thereof, a top part of the front
wall and rear wall closed by a reclosable seal, the front
wall and the rear wall bonded to the adjacent gusset
sidewalls opposite the reclosable seal to form volume
regions within said reclosable bag opposite the reclosable
seal that are removed from the volume of the reclosable
bag thereby assisting in forming a substantially flat
bottom to the reclosable bag and whereby a material to be
filled into the bag is precluded from flowing into the
removed volume regions, and a seal at the bottom edge of
the reclosable bag to close the reclosable bag.
The examiner relies upon the following as evidence of unpatentability:
Dickson 3,378,189 Apr. 16, 1968
McClintock et al. (McClintock) 5,037,138 Aug. 06, 1991
Stolmeier et al. (Stolmeier) 6,257,763 Jul. 10, 2001 (filed
Jun. 04, 1998)
Furukawa et al. (Furukawa) JP 4[1992]-6049 Jan. 10, 1992
Noguchi JP 05-097151 Apr. 20, 1993
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