Appeal 2007-2027
Application 10/210,269
extends into said interstices in said hard portion across said
face;
said primary portion also including a peripheral lip
having a degree of flexibility for contact with the user.
Thus, claim 1 is directed to a conventionally shaped athletic cup
having a resilient portion and a hard open cage-shaped portion bonded to the
resilient portion. The hard portion has a plurality of open interstices across
its face, and the resilient portion extends into the interstices.
2. PRIOR ART
The Examiner relies on the following references:
Jacobs US 5,732,715 Mar. 31, 1998
McKay US 5,983,407 Nov. 16, 1999
Lukens US 2003/0163076 A1 Aug. 28, 2003
3. OBVIOUSNESS -- CLAIMS 1, 3-6, 9-11, 13-16, 19, AND 20
Claims 1, 3-6, 9-11, 13-16, 19, and 20 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C.
§ 103 as obvious in view of Lukens and Jacobs (Answer 3-4).1 The
Examiner cites Lukens as disclosing an athletic cup “compris[ing] a primary
cushion portion (12) formed from a resilient thermoplastic elastomer
composition, said primary portion forming an inner segment for contact with
a user” (id. at 3).
The Examiner states that “[a] hard crush-resistant portion (14) is
bonded to the primary portion and is shaped as an open ‘cage’ . . . a cage
being ‘a box or enclosure having some openwork for confining or carrying ’”
(id.). The Examiner states that the hard outer portion of Lukens’ cup has “a
1 Examiner’s Answer of May 18, 2006.
3
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