Appeal 2006-2263
Application 09/859,665
15. A method for treating menses comprising the steps of:
forming a tampon including a nonwoven web material;
dispersing at least one treatment chemistry selected from the group
consisting of water-soluble gelling agents which crosslink protein,
thickening agents, plasma precipitators and combinations thereof on at least
one of at least a portion of a surface of polyolefin or pulp fibers forming
said nonwoven web material and within at least a portion of the interstices of
said nonwoven web material;
contacting said at least one treatment chemistry with said menses.
The Examiner relies on the following prior art references as evidence
of unpatentability:
Blaney US 6,177,607 B1 Jan. 23, 2001 (Jun. 25, 1999)
Hamilton US 6,562,192 B1 May 13, 2003 (Apr. 12, 2000)
The rejections as presented by the Examiner are as follows:
1. Claims 1-4, 6, 8-12, 14, 32-34, 36-41, and 44 are rejected under
35 U.S.C. § 102(e) as being unpatentable over Blaney.
2. Claims 15-20 and 23-26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(e) as
being unpatentable over Hamilton.
Regarding the § 102(e) rejection over Blaney, Appellants argue the
same claim feature (i.e., the “water-soluble” nature of the gelling agents
which crosslink protein) with respect to independent method claim 1 and
independent article claim 32. Accordingly, we choose independent method
claim 1 as the representative claim for determination of the propriety of the §
102(e) rejection over Blaney.
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