Ex parte WELKER - Page 6




          Appeal No. 96-4197                                                          
          Application No. 08/425,261                                                  

          suggestions.  In re Sernaker, 702 F.2d 989, 995, 217 USPQ 1, 6              
          (Fed. Cir. 1983).  "Additionally, when determining                          
          obviousness, the claimed invention should be considered as a                
          whole; there is no legally recognizable 'heart' of the                      
          invention."  Para-Ordnance Mfg. v. SGS Importers Int’l, Inc.,               
          73 F.3d 1085, 1087, 37 USPQ2d 1237, 1239 (Fed. Cir. 1995),                  
          cert. denied, 117 S.Ct. 80 (1996) citing W. L. Gore & Assocs.,              
          Inc. v. Garlock, Inc., 721 F.2d 1540, 1548, 220 USPQ 303, 309               
          (Fed. Cir. 1983), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 851 (1984).                        
               Appellant argues on pages 10 through 17 of the brief that              
          Kamrat and Welker, together or individually, fail to teach or               
          suggest applying a force lateral to the end of the insertion                
          rod which precludes extending beyond the insertion rod as                   
          recited in claims 19 through 21 or a pair of parallel                       
          hydraulic cylinders, each hydraulic cylinder extending toward               
          the pipe adjacent to and aligned at the side of the stuffing                
          assembly and blocking valve as recited in claims 22 through                 
          29.                                                                         
               The Examiner argues on page 4 of the answer that it would              
          have been obvious to those skilled in the art to replace the                
          Kamrat threaded bars with two of the hydraulic cylinders of                 

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