Appeal No. 2007-0739
Application No. 11/043,655
2. Rejections over Sawka
Claims 1-3 and 5-11 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) as being
anticipated by Sawka.
As Appellant did not argue the claims separately (Br. 6)5, we focus
our analysis on claim 1. 37 CFR § 41.37(c)(1)(vii) (2006).
Due to its brevity, the rejection is set forth below.
Sawka discloses a multilayer film comprising an
adhesive (base layer) (24), a decorative layer (23) overlying the
base layer and a base layer (seal layer) (12) overlying the
decorative layer (column 8, lines 34-44 and Figure 1) where
color layers (20) and (22) are not used at all (column 7, lines
62-65). The seal layer (12) is clear (column 5, lines 18-19) and
the decorative layer (23) comprises pigments and dyes (column
8, lines 5-14 and 34-37). The base layer (24) may incorporate
pigments and is comprised of rubber, which is a non-
electrically conductive material (column 8, lines 42-53). Sawka
discloses common surfaces of the invention include floormats
(column 10, lines 47-56).
Answer 4.
As noted above, claim 1 is drawn to a chairmat comprising: (1) a
planar substrate layer having a first side which rests on the floor and a
second side opposite from the first side; (2) a decorative substrate layer
disposed directly on the first layer; and (3) a transparent seal layer disposed
directly on the decorative material.
5 The Brief refers to claims 1-3, 5, 8-10, and 12-14 (Br. 6). But as the
Action mailed January 27, 2006, also states that claims 1-3 and 5-11 stood
rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) as being anticipated by Sawka, id. at 3, we
will treat the rejection as applying to claims 1-3 and 5-11. Similarly, we will
treat the rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) over Sawka as applying to
claims 4 and 12-16.
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