Appeal No. 96-3480 Page 6
Application No. 08/142,381
Choppy discloses an ear swab. The ear swab includes a
stick 5 and a small spoon 4 at one end of the stick.
Additionally, the examiner determined that the stick 5 was
cylindrical.4
The examiner, in applying the test for obviousness,5
determined (answer, p. 4) that it would have been obvious to
one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention
to
(1) make the active portion of Tolman in hemispherical shape
in order to make a larger receptacle for accommodating more
ear wax, and (2) make the body (i.e., shank 2) of Tolman
cylindrical as taught by Choppy. We agree.
The arguments advanced by the appellant (reply brief, p.
2 and brief, pp. 7-11) are unpersuasive for the following
4Apparently from shading of the stick 5 in Figure 1.
5The test for obviousness is what the combined teachings
of the references would have suggested to one of ordinary
skill in the art. See In re Young, 927 F.2d 588, 591, 18
USPQ2d 1089, 1091 (Fed. Cir. 1991) and In re Keller, 642 F.2d
413, 425, 208 USPQ 871, 881 (CCPA 1981).
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