Appeal 2006-2931
Application 10/447,009
We AFFIRM.
Appellants' invention relates to a nonwoven product comprising the
nonwoven web of fibers bonded together with a sufficient amount of binder.
The binder comprises a polymer containing vinyl acetate, ethylene, and a
cross-linking monomer. According to Appellants, the improvement in the
nonwoven product resides in the use of a polymer having a crystalline
melting point (Tm) ranging from 35 to 90°C (Br. 2). Claim 1, as presented
in the Brief, appears below:
1. In a nonwoven product comprising a nonwoven web of fibers
bonded together with a polymer comprised of polymerized units of vinyl
acetate, ethylene, and polymerized units of a crosslinking monomer at a
binder add-on which is sufficient to bind the fibers together to form a self-
sustaining web, the improvement which comprises:
said polymer comprised of an aqueous-based ethylene-vinyl acetate
polymer emulsion comprised of polymerized units of crystalline ethylene
segments, said polymer prepared by emulsion polymerizing vinyl acetate,
ethylene, and said cross-linking monomer in the presence of a stabilizing
system, and, further, said polymer having a crystalline melting point ranging
from 35 to 90 °C as measured by differential scanning calorimetry at a heat
rate of 20°C per minute.
The Examiner relies on the following references in rejecting the
appealed subject matter:
Mudge US 4,702,957 Oct. 27, 1987
Eknoian US 2003/0073777 A1 Apr. 17, 2003
The Examiner has entered the following grounds of rejection:
Claims 1-20 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. §102 (b and e) as anticipated by
or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. §103(a) as obvious over Mudge or
Eknoian.
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