Appeal No. 2006-1667
Application No. 10/775,634
OPINION
We reverse the rejection of claims 1-3 and 7-9 under
35 U.S.C. § 102(e), affirm the rejection of claims 13-18 under
35 U.S.C. § 102(e), affirm the rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 103,
and remand the application to the examiner to consider rejecting
claims 1-3 and 7-9 under 35 U.S.C. § 103.
Claims 1-3 and 7-9
We need to address only the independent claims among
claims 1-3 and 7-9, i.e., claims 1 and 7. Claim 1 requires an
apparatus for adjusting the firmness, support or sag of a
mattress, comprising a material and construction capable of
maintaining, under the weight of a mattress and a person, a
convex shape that is thicker in the center region and gradually
thinner toward the edges. Claim 7 requires an apparatus for
adding adjustability of firmness, support or sag to a mattress,
comprising a plurality of inflatable chambers, wherein the
apparatus has a substantially convex cross-sectional shape, after
inflation, that is thicker in the center region and gradually
tapers toward the edges, and the chambers have an arrangement and
shape that renders them capable of maintaining the convex shape
under the weight of a mattress and a person.
Gordon discloses a device “configured to be placed under the
center region of a sagging or new mattress, after which the
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