Appeal 2006-3343
Application 10/372,564
1 although the claim uses the term “interfacing fabric” the fabric is not being
2 used as an interfacing fabric. (Answer, p. 4, ll. 11-14). Rather, the fabric
3 being used is a one layer bedding sheet made from polyester, rayon, and
4 nylon (which is non-stretchy). Denesuk describes:
5 [A] textile-based bedding article for a domestic animal comprises an
6 outer textile casing defining a shape in the form of an article of a size
7 which can support a domestic animal, an inner filling and at least one
8 of the outer textile casing and the inner filling having an effective
9 micro-inhibiting agent or property. The outer textile casing can
10 comprise a woven, a non-woven or a knit fabric made from natural or
11 synthetic fibers.” (2:22-29)
12
13 Non-Wovens
14 Some articles are [sic - of] the present invention may be made using
15 non-woven fabrics. These are generally made from extruded
16 continuous filaments or from fiber webs or batts strengthened by some
17 form of bonding between or among fibers. The fibers may be bonded,
18 e.g., by heating (including use of low-melting coatings), by adhesives,
19 stitch-bonding or mechanical interlocking (e.g., needling).
20
21 A preferred base material is often polyester or olefin fibers or
22 filaments…(12:50-57).
23
24 Denesuk above describes a non-woven polyester fabric as an outer
25 casing. The outer casing is not described as stretchy, but as defining a shape
26 in the form of an article which can support a domestic animal.
27 Accordingly, giving the Appellant’s claim its broadest reasonable
28 interpretation consistent with the description, the claim encompasses
29 Denesuk’s polyester casing which defines the shape of the article for holding
30 a domestic animal.
31 We therefore agree with the Examiner’s conclusion that it would have
32 been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was
9
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