Appeal 2007-0724
Reexamination Control 90/006,775
Patent 6,428,526
1 absorbent article having a fastening system comprising hook and loop
2 material. Answer 5. The examiner explains the rejection as follows
3 (Answer 5):
4 As set forth supra in the Claim Interpretation section, these
5 claims are interpreted to require the capability of releasable
6 engagement of the stemlike projections of the hook material
7 with the disposable absorbent article . . . . The Dragoo ‘622
8 article . . . includes all the claimed structure prior to packaging
9 and also teaches that the stemlike projections of the hook
10 material releasably engage with the outer cover or the outer
11 surface or with a loop material, and thus conceals or covers the
12 stemlike projections, to form a pant-like structure during use.
13 Therefore there is sufficient factual basis for one to conclude
14 that the capabilities of the claimed structure are also inherent in
15 the same structure of the Dragoo article. [Emphasis added.]
16
17 As explained above, claim 1 requires a package of disposable
18 absorbent articles comprising a plurality of absorbent articles each having a
19 pant-like structure in the package. The examiner has not directed us to any
20 disclosure in Dragoo, Buell, or Nestegard which describes, either expressly
21 or inherently, a package of absorbent articles comprising a plurality of
22 absorbent articles each having a pant-like structure in the package. For this
23 reason, we find that the examiner has failed to establish that Dragoo, and by
24 incorporation, Buell and Nestegard anticipate the subject matter of claim 1.
25 Similarly, the examiner has failed to explain why the combined
26 teachings of Dragoo, Buell, and Nestegard would have rendered obvious a
27 package of absorbent articles wherein each absorbent article has a pant-like
28 structure in the package. To the extent that the diaper in Dragoo is
29 “capable” of being packaged in a pant-like structure, this capability alone is
30 not sufficient to establish that the claimed invention would have been
10
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