Ex Parte Weber

Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences

Feb 25, 2008

10331951 (B.P.A.I. Feb. 25, 2008)

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
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BEFORE THE BOARD OF PATENT APPEALS
AND INTERFERENCES
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Ex parte SHIRLEE A. WEBER
___________

Appeal 2007-3764
Application 10/331,951
Technology Center 3700
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Decided: February 25, 2008
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Before TONI R. SCHEINER, DONALD E. ADAMS, and
LORA M. GREEN, Administrative Patent Judges.

GREEN, Administrative Patent Judge.

DECISION ON APPEAL
This is a decision on appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 134 from the
Examiner’s final rejection of claims 1-18. We have jurisdiction under 35
U.S.C. § 6(b). Claims 1 and 10 are the independent claims on appeal, and
read as follows:
Appeal 2007-3764
Application 10/331,951

1. An absorbent article, comprising:
a chassis having a front waist region with a front waistband, a back
waist region with a back waistband, and a crotch region extending
longitudinally between said front and back waist regions;
a generally liquid impermeable and stretchable outer cover member,
and a bodyside liner extending from said front waist band to said back waist
band;
an absorbent pad structure sandwiched between said outer cover
member and said bodyside liner, said absorbent pad structure comprising an
absorbent core coform material having a fusable thermoplastic material;
a suspension member disposed at each longitudinal end of said
absorbent pad structure, said suspension members having one end fusably
bonded with said fusable thermoplastic material within said absorbent core
material, and an opposite end attached to a respective said waistband of said
chassis; and
wherein upon said article being worn by a user, said absorbent pad
structure is slideably disposed against said outer cover member such that
said absorbent article is form-fitting without said absorbent pad structure
impeding stretchability of said outer cover member.

10. An absorbent article, comprising:
a chassis having a front waist region with a front waistband, a back
waist region with a back waistband, and a crotch region extending
longitudinally between said front and back waist regions;
a generally liquid impermeable outer cover member and a generally
coextensive bodyside liner;
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Application 10/331,951

a longitudinally disposed absorbent pad structure sandwiched between
said outer cover member and said bodyside liner, said absorbent pad
structure comprising an absorbent core material having a fusable
thermoplastic material;
at least one elastic suspension member disposed at a longitudinal end
of said absorbent pad structure, said suspension member having one end
fusably bonded with said fusable thermoplastic material within said
absorbent core material, and an opposite end attached at a respective said
waistband of said chassis.

The Examiner relies upon the following reference:
Stevens 4,892,598 Jan. 9, 1990
We reverse.

DISCUSSION
Claims 1-18 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) as being
anticipated by Stevens.
The burden is on the Examiner to set forth a prima facie case of
unpatentability. In re Glaug, 283 F.3d 1335, 1338 (Fed. Cir. 2002).
To anticipate, every element and limitation of the claimed invention must be
found in a single prior art reference, arranged as in the claim. Karsten Mfg.
Corp. v. Cleveland Golf Co., 242 F.3d 1376, 1383, 58 USPQ2d 1286, 1291
(Fed. Cir. 2001). The issue in contention is whether Stevens teaches a
suspension material having one end fusably bonded with said fusable
thermoplastic material within said absorbent core material, and we thus
focus our analysis on that limitation.
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Appeal 2007-3764
Application 10/331,951

In order to understand the limitation at issue, we turn to the instant
disclosure. Instant Figure 2 is reproduced below:

Figure 2 is a bodyside plan view of an absorbent article, in this case a diaper,
shown in partial cut-away view (Spec. p. 4, ll. 1-3). According to the
Specification:
The absorbent pad structures 32 are suspended relative to
the chassis 20 by way of at least one suspension member 102
disposed at a longitudinal end of the pad structure 32. The pad
structure may be suspended at each of its longitudinal ends with
a respective suspension member 102, as illustrated in the
figures. The suspension member 102 has an end fusably
bonded with the fusable thermoplastic material within the
absorbent core material 100. For example, the suspension
member may be a nonwoven material, such as a spunbond
material, of a fusable thermoplastic polymer material that also
melts or softens and fuses with the molten thermoplastic
material of the core material 100 in the bonding process. . . .
The end of the suspension member 102 may be inserted into the
core material 100 or may be laid upon a surface of the core
material 100. The components are then bonded together by any
one of a number of techniques known to those skilled in the art
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Appeal 2007-3764
Application 10/331,951

such that the thermoplastic materials become molten and fuse
upon subsequent solidification. Thus, the suspension members
102 are attached directly to the absorbent core material 100
without the necessity of a separate attaching layer, such as a
facing or backing sheet.

(Spec., p. 9, ll. 11-27.)
Thus, consistent with the Specification and the Figures, we interpret
the limitation of a suspension material having one end fusably bonded with
said fusable thermoplastic material within said absorbent core material as
requiring the suspension material to be bonded directly to the absorbent core
material without the use of a separate attaching layer, wherein the bonding is
produced by melting or softening of the suspension member with the core
material.
According to the Examiner, Stevens teaches:
A slidable retaining means 46 and combination with
positioning means 12 and slot-forming means together form a
suspension member disposed at each longitudinal end of
absorbent insert means 32, said suspension member 46 having
one end bonded with the absorbent means 32 and an opposite
end attached to the positioning means 12 located on the
waistband (column 6, lines 9-12, figure 2).

(Ans. 4). Moreover, the Examiner asserts, absorbent 32 comprises absorbent
core means 38 (Ans. 5, relying on Stevens, Fig 2A, Fig. 15, and col. 5, ll.
48-65).
Figures 2 and 2A of Stevens are reproduced below:
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Appeal 2007-3764
Application 10/331,951

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the anatomically form-fitting and generally
self-adjusting diaper garment of the invention (Stevens, col. 4, ll. 18-19).
Figure 2A is a sectional view of cross-section 2A-2A of Figure 2.
Appellant argues that the absorbent core means 38 of Stevens “never
even touches positioning means 12, much less having one of its ends fusably
bonded with the thermoplastic material within said absorbent core material
38.” (Br.1 9.) Appellant argues that fusably bonded requires that “the
thermpoplastic materials become molten and fuse upon subsequent
solidification.” (Br. 10, quoting Spec. 9.) Thus, according to Appellant, “no
reasonable interpretation of ‘fusably bonded’ can be stretched to read on

1 All references to the Brief (Br.) are to the corrected Appeal Brief dated
September 18, 2006.
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Application 10/331,951

[Stevens] elements that are not connected to each other by one being melted
or coalesced with material within the other.” (Br. 10.)
We agree. First, the Examiner has not pointed to any teaching in
Stevens showing the presence of thermoplastic material within absorbent
core material 38, nor can we find such a teaching. Second, the Examiner
asserts that 46 is the suspension means. Stevens teaches that “there is
provided slidable retaining means, generally indicated at 46, for operatively
connecting said insert means 32 to said positioning means 12.” (Stevens,
col. 6, ll. 9-13.) Stevens, however, does not teach that the absorbent core
material 38 is directly attached to the suspension means 46, much less that it
is fusably bonded to the suspension means 46 wherein the bonding is
produced by melting or softening of the suspension member with the core
material.
Thus, the Examiner has not demonstrated that Stevens teaches every
element and limitation of the claimed invention, arranged as in the claim,
and the rejection is reversed.
REVERSED

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