Appeal 2006-2400
Application 10/051,814
obviousness is what the combined teachings of the prior art references would
have suggested to those of ordinary skill in the art. In re Young, 927 F.2d
588, 591, 18 USPQ2d 1089, 1091 (Fed. Cir. 1991); In re Keller, 642 F.2d
413, 425, 208 USPQ 871, 881 (CCPA 1981). In evaluating the prior art
references for a suggestion, it is proper to take into account not only the
specific teachings of the references, but also the inferences which one skilled
in the art would reasonably be expected to draw therefrom. In re Preda,
401 F.2d 825, 826, 159 USPQ 342, 344 (CCPA 1968).
Applying the above obviousness test to the present circumstance, we
determine that the prior art references as a whole would have suggested the
claimed subject matter within the meaning of 35 U.S.C. §103. As correctly
found by the Examiner:
Pregozen discloses a method for making a non-woven wet wipe
impregnated with an aqueous composition (See column 1, lines
10-12), in which a cationic biocide (claimed cationic functional
agent) is added to a preservative system to enhance the
antimicrobial effect of the combination of sorbic acid and citric
acid in the a preservative system (See column 2, lines 51-55).
The moistened wipe may be used for cleaning e.g. kitchen
counter tops, toilet bowls, sinks or delivering active ingredients
such as sunscreens, insect repellants to an animate or inanimate
surface (See column 5, lines 44-50). The moistened wipes are
made by applying the aqueous composition to a flexible
absorbent nonwoven substrate in an amount of about two to
five times the dry weight of the web an aqueous imbuement
carrying a polymeric cationic biocide having [a] molecular
weight of 1000-1400 (See column 3, lines 61-63) or monomeric
cationic biocide such as cetylpyridinium chloride (See column
7, lines 19, 27-35) at a concentration of about 0.03-0.24 %
weight (active basis) of the aqueous composition (which is less
than 6 milli-equivalents per liter) (See column 4, lines 10-13).
The nonwoven substrate employed in the moistened wipe is a
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