Appeal 2006-2352
Application 10/065,436
Moreover, the Examiner has not a provided persuasive rationale, on
this record, as to why one of ordinary skill in the art would have been led to
manufacture the empty core fibers of Tamiya with sufficient openings so as
to obtain a fiber having the claimed absorbency properties.
Thus, on this record, an adequate factual basis for shifting the burden
to Appellants on the patentability issues raised here has not been supplied,
prima facie, by the Examiner.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
We conclude that the Examiner erred by failing to show that the
collective teachings of Tamiya and Jennergren would have suggested all the
limitations of each rejected claim to one of ordinary skill in the art, including
a product filament possessing the absorption characteristics as claimed.
Thus, we determine that Appellants have identified reversible error in the
Examiner’s obviousness rejection over Tamiya and Jennergren in their Brief.
REMAND
As we noted above, Shiozaki describes the formation of hollow
polyester filaments having “a very large internal surface and a large number
of capillaries which are effective for absorbing water or moisture” (col. 6, ll.
63-66). Shiozaki provides that from 5 through 50, such as 10 through 30 of
the cross-sectional area of the filaments can be hollow (col. 5, ll. 54-59).
Moreover, Shiozaki discloses that such hollow filaments or staple fibers are
useful in nonwoven fabrics (col. 6, ll. 52-60). Given the above, prior to
disposition of this application, the Examiner must review Shiozaki and
determine whether or not the teachings of Shiozaki alone or in combination
19
Page: Previous 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Next
Last modified: September 9, 2013