Appeal 2007-1325
Application 10/065,722
1 2. Dart is a Combination of Familiar Elements With a Predicable Result
2 The combination of two known elements such as, a tab closure and a
3 domed-shaped disposable plastic cap with an opening in it, cannot constitute
4 patentable invention unless each element of the combination performs an
5 “additional or different function in the combination [other] than they
6 perform out of it.” See, e.g., Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. v.
7 Supermarket Equipment Corp., 340 U.S. 147, 152, 71 S. Ct. 127, 130
8 (1950). We find no evidence of any such additional or different function in
9 Dart's claimed invention vis-à-vis the prior art tab closures.
10 a. The Function of Dart’s Tab Closure
11 The Summary of Invention in Dart describes the function of the tab
12 closure 14 as simply securing one end of the tab to the cap via the mounting
13 plug 50 and releaseably connecting the other end carrying the drink plug 54
14 to the drink opening 42 such that “the drink plug is sized to be received
15 within the drink opening wherein the user can open and close the lid by
16 removing or inserting the drink plug from the drink opening.”
17 (Specification 4)
18 Dart's structure and corresponding function are found repeatedly in
19 the prior art.
20 b. Prior Art Tab Closures Function in the Same Way as Dart
21 The prior art tab closures of Waterbury, Mueller, and Aichert when
22 used in the lid of Freek do what they always have done in these prior art
23 devices, namely, to hold a drink plug in place through the intermediary of a
24 connecting strip connected to the cap when the plug is in an opened
26
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Last modified: September 9, 2013