Appeal 2007-3551
Application 10/803,360
The examiner bears the initial burden of presenting a prima
facie case of obviousness. In re Oetiker, 977 F.2d 1443, 1445, 24 USPQ2d
1443, 1444 (Fed. Cir. 1992). This burden has not been met in this case.
Issues for Further Consideration
Prior to an allowance, we direct the Examiner to U.S. Patent
6,217,687 B1, a patent to Shibata et al. issued April 17, 2001. The Examiner
should analyze whether the appealed claims are patentable over Shibata
alone or in combination with other prior art.
Shibata describes treating a surface of a film by “subjecting the film
surface to successive oxidation and coating treatments and stretching said
coated film, followed by second oxidation and coating treatments, to thereby
obtain a treated film which has satisfactory ink transferability and adhesion
thereto and long-term stability and shows excellent printability.” (col. 1, ll.
7-14). The treated thermoplastic resin of the film may be a polypropylene
resin (col. 4, ll. 47-67 and especially col. 4, ll. 52 and 61-67). The treated
thermoplastic resin film may be a stretched film (col. 6, ll. 30-32), and,
specifically, may be a uniaxially stretched polyolefin resin film (col. 6, ll.
61-67).1 The applied coating may be a urethane coating (col. 7, ll. 66-67).
The stretching occurring after coating may be a transverse-direction
stretching (col. 12, ll. 36-37). The object is to provide a thermoplastic film
having antistatic properties and water resistance that allows satisfactory
transfer and adhesion of ultraviolet-curing inks to its surface even after
storage in high-temperature, high-humidity atmosphere (col. 2, ll. 52-56).
1 Polypropylene is a type of polyolefin.
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