Appeal No. 2006-2630 Page 4
Application No. 10/255,014
Answer, p. 3. The examiner stated that “appellant does not present any facts to
convince the Examiner that the temporary heat seal in appellant’s claim is anything
more than an intermediate process step within a product claim.” Answer, p. 5.
The appellants argue that Wild does not disclose a pouch with a seal material
covering the straw hole that has a circumference that is slightly larger than the
circumference of the straw hole. We note that claim 1 does not require that the
circumference of the seal material is slightly larger than the circumference of the
straw hole. Rather, claim 1 recites, “the predetermined circumference of said seal
material is slightly larger than the temporary heat seal width around the straw
hole.” The examiner found that this limitation was met by the disclosure of Wild,
because the circumference of the Wild seal material (11) is slightly larger than the
heat seal width. The examiner noted that the circumference of the seal material is
equal to 2πr, where r equals the radius of the seal material, and the radius of the
seal material in Wild is slightly larger than the heat seal width. Answer, p. 3.
We agree with the examiner. Wild discloses, with reference to Figure 4, a
sealing foil patch (11) that is sealed around a straw hole (2) to the sealing points
(8) at the inner side of the pouch material (3). Wild, col. 3, lines 28-31. The radius
of the patch (11) of Wild is slightly larger than the width of the seal (8) of Wild,
because the width of the seal (8) excludes the center area of the patch (11) that
covers the straw hole, as shown in cross-section in Figure 2 of Wild. As such, the
circumference of the patch (11) must necessarily be larger than the width of the
seal (8).
The appellants also argue that Wild does not disclose that the straw hole
patch is first temporarily sealed to the pouch using a temporary seal having a
temporary seal width and then permanently sealed to the pouch using a permanent
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