Appeal 2006-2652
Application 09/842,373
with Appellants that the Examiner has failed to establish a prima facie case
of obviousness for the claimed subject matter. Accordingly, we will not
sustain the Examiner’s rejection.
As acknowledged by Appellants and the Examiner, Van der loo
discloses a shaped article that is ballistic-resistant much like the claimed
shaped article with the exception of not disclosing the inclusion of a solvent.
The Examiner cites Nanri for teaching that polyethylene yarn comprising a
solvent content within the claimed range has improved properties, such as
frictional resistance and wear resistance. Therefore, the Examiner concludes
that it would have been obvious to employ the solvent-containing fiber
composition of Nanri in the shaped article of Van der loo for the purpose of
achieving reduced frictional resistance and wear resistance.
The fatal flaw in the Examiner’s reasoning is that it was known in the
art that the ballistic resistance of articles made from synthetic fibers is
decreased when frictional resistance is decreased. As set forth by
Appellants, Van der loo expressly teaches that the solvent is evaporated and
removed when making the polyethylene fibers, and references cited at
pages 7 and 8 of Appellants’ Brief provide substantial evidence that one of
ordinary skill in the art would not have considered incorporating a solvent
into fibrous layers that are meant to be ballistic-resistant. For example,
Appellants cite the Laible article that teaches that the ballistic resistance of
the article is reduced due to the slipperiness of the fabric resulting from
residual spinning oils, and that the ballistic resistance of polypropylene is
3
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 Next
Last modified: September 9, 2013