Ex Parte McElroy et al

Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences

Jun 28, 2012

11708246 (B.P.A.I. Jun. 28, 2012)

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARKOFFICE
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
United States Patent and Trademark Office
Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450
www.uspto.gov
APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE FIRST NAMED INVENTOR ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO.
11/708,246 02/20/2007 Elizabeth Rachelle McElroy 10466R 8022
27752 7590 06/28/2012
THE PROCTER & GAMBLE COMPANY
Global Legal Department - IP
Sycamore Building - 4th Floor
299 East Sixth Street
CINCINNATI, OH 45202
EXAMINER
KIDWELL, MICHELE M
ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER
3761
MAIL DATE DELIVERY MODE
06/28/2012 PAPER
Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding.
The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication.
PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
__________

BEFORE THE BOARD OF PATENT APPEALS
AND INTERFERENCES
__________

Ex parte
ELIZABETH RACHELLE McELROY and BETH GOLDMAN MASON
__________

Appeal 2011-004249
Application 11/708,246
Technology Center 3700
__________

Before TONI R. SCHEINER, ERIC GRIMES, and
JACQUELINE WRIGHT BONILLA, Administrative Patent Judges.

SCHEINER, Administrative Patent Judge.

DECISION ON APPEAL
This is an appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 134 from the final rejection of
claims 1-9 and 11-21, directed to a method for designing an absorbent
article. The claims have been rejected as obvious. We have jurisdiction
under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b).
We reverse.

Appeal 2011-004249
Application 11/708,246

2
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Claims 1-9 and 11-21 are pending and on appeal; claim 10 has been
canceled (App. Br. 1). Claim 1 is representative of the subject matter on
appeal:
1. A method for designing an absorbent article to be worn close to
the body comprising the steps of:
attaching middy tape in the shape of an edge of a first element of an
absorbent article to a material body form to create an outline of said first
element of said absorbent article;
attaching conformable sheet material to said material body form about
said outline of said first element of said absorbent article;
marking the shape of said outline of said first element of said
absorbent article on said conformable sheet material to create a pattern;
removing said conformable sheet material from said material body
form; and
constructing a first element of said absorbent article corresponding to
said pattern.
Claims 1-9 and 11-21 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as
unpatentable over Macura1 and Woodward.2
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. Macura discloses “[a] virtual model for simulating physical
deformation of . . . a product to be worn on a body” (Macura 2), “starting
with the step of generating an image of a . . . portion of a body to be
surfaced” (id. at 5). “Surfacing is a technique for rendering a computer
generated three-dimensional (3D) image of an actual 3D object” (id.). A
“garment to be evaluated” is “generated by producing a computer aided

1 WO 2005/088582 A2, published September 22, 2005.
2 CAROL WOODWARD, CLOTHING CARE & SEWING TECHNIQUES FOR
VISUALLY IMPAIRED OR TOTALLY BLIND STUDENTS, 1-12 (1998).

Appeal 2011-004249
Application 11/708,246

3
design (CAD) geometry of the actual garment of interest” (id. at 10), and
then “‘applied’” to the computer generated 3D image (id. at 11).
2. Woodward discloses a method of making (or adapting) patterns
for visually impaired or blind sewers (Woodward 5). The method involves
several techniques for making the pattern edges and markings detectable by
touch. Examples include outlining the edges of the pattern with glue;
marking straight grainline arrows with masking tape; and using staples to
identify the locations of notches and darts on the pattern (id.).
DISCUSSION
The Examiner finds that Macura “discloses a method using virtual
representation via a body form to construct at least first and second elements
of a[ ] sanitary napkin” (Ans. 4), and the only difference between Macura
and the claimed invention “is the provision using specific steps in order to
create an outline of the specific elements” (id.). However, the Examiner
finds that Woodward “teaches a method of creating a pattern using tape to
outline elements and marking the shape of a physical outline to create a
pattern” (id.), and concludes that it would have been obvious “to construct
the first and second elements of the sanitary napkin using the steps taught by
Woodward . . . [to] allow for making an individualized pattern” (id.).
Appellants contend that “one of ordinary skill in the art would not
produce the present claimed inventive method of using a middy tape in the
shape of an absorbent article element and conformable sheet material [on a
material body] to construct an element of an absorbent article” (App. Br. 5),
given the teachings of Macura and Woodward.
Appeal 2011-004249
Application 11/708,246

4
We agree with Appellants. The “body” in Macura’s method is
entirely virtual, as is the garment being tested in the simulation. Woodward,
on the other hand, is concerned with converting the graphic markings on a
pattern into markings that can be detected by touch, and has nothing to do
with designing a pattern or garment. In short, neither reference discloses the
steps of attaching middy tape (or any other kind of tape) to a material body,
and then attaching a conformable sheet material to the material body, and no
possible combination of the references would result in these steps. Nor has
the Examiner explained how these steps would have been suggested by the
cited art.
Accordingly, we are constrained to reverse the rejection of the claims
as unpatentable over Macura and Woodward.

REVERSED

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