Appeal 2007-3182
Application 10/683,058
12. A yarn comprised of a plurality of multi-lobal filaments, said
multi-lobal filaments comprising a solid cross-section having a perimeter
comprised of a plurality of symmetric lobes that are joined to one another by
concave line segments, said cross-section having a modification ratio of
about 2.4 to about 5; wherein upon traversing in one direction completely
around the perimeter, the position of a center of curvature for the perimeter
changes from one side of said perimeter to the other side at least eighteen
times.
The Examiner relies upon the following references as evidence of
obviousness:
Hackler WO 88/03969 Jun. 2, 1988
Tung 5,284,009 Feb. 8, 1994
Boyle 5,322,736 Jun. 21, 1994
Helms, Jr. 5,948,528 Sep. 7, 1999
Appellants' claimed invention is directed to a yarn comprised of a
plurality of multi-lobal filaments which have a solid cross-section and a
perimeter having a plurality of symmetric lobes that are joined by concave
line segments. The cross-section has a modification ratio of about 2.4 to
about 5. According to Appellants, "[t]he solid structures of the inventive
filaments are desired for having lower bending moments and having less
bulk, and would be softer than a comparable hollow fiber with the same
'footprint' shape" (Principal Br. 5, second para.).
Appealed claims 12, 4, 6-8 and 14-22 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C.
§ 103 as being unpatentable over Helms in view of Boyle. Claim 13 stands
rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over the stated
combination of references further in view of Hackler and/or Tung.
Appellants do not set forth a separate argument for any particular
claim on appeal. Accordingly, the groups of claims separately rejected by
the Examiner stand or fall together.
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