Appeal 2006-2032
Application 09/891,948
FINDINGS OF FACT
Conventional polyethylene terephthalate (PET) beverage bottles, the
types of bottles with which all three of the applied Apps patents are
concerned, have a tendency to buckle under off-axis loads. Even absent
buckling, the tendency of bottles to tilt in conventional low depth cases is
problematic. Tilting places an undesirably low limit on the number of tiers
in a stack because the tilting of bottles in one case can cause the next higher
case in the stack to tilt, leading to instability if too many tiers are included in
the stack (Apps ‘002, col. 1, l. 60 to col. 2, l. 5; Apps ‘279, col. 1, l. 62 to
col. 2, l. 7; Apps ‘793, col. 1, l. 60 to col. 2, l. 4).
A low depth case is one in which the side walls are lower than the
height of the stored bottles and in which the bottles support the weight of
additional cases stacked on top (Apps ‘002, col. 2, ll. 28-31; Apps ‘793, col.
2, ll. 28-31; Apps ‘279, col. 2, ll. 29-32).
The case disclosed in Apps ‘002 has a very low depth with upwardly
extending columns (Apps ‘002, col. 4, ll. 9-10). The columns 30, both along
the side walls and in the interior of the case, extend above bottom portion 20
a distance approximately one third the height of the bottles to be retained in
the case (Apps ‘002, col. 5, ll. 45-48). “This increases the effective height of
the case while maintaining high bottle visibility and low manufacturing
costs” (Apps ‘002, col. 5, ll. 48-50).
Apps ‘002 desires a substantially flat upper surface 22 of bottom
portion 20 within bottle retaining pockets 32. This permits retention of
bottles regardless of their bottom configuration and also allows petaloid
bottles to be rotated within the bottle retaining pockets to facilitate display of
the product (Apps ‘002, col. 6, ll. 16-23).
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