Appeal No. 1999-1559
Application No. 08/762,687
there is no teaching or even suggestion in Tsuboyama that the
Tsuboyama ferroelectric liquid crystal material may be
replaced by a twisted nematic liquid crystal material having a
positive dielectric anisotropy as claimed by Appellant. On
pages 8 and 9 of the brief, Appellant also argues that there
is no teaching or suggestion in the Fukai patent that the
liquid crystal material should be a twisted nematic liquid
crystal material.
The Federal Circuit states that "[t]he mere fact that the
prior art may be modified in the manner suggested by the
Examiner does not make the modification obvious unless the
prior art suggested the desirability of the modification." In
re Fritch, 972 F.2d 1260, 1266 n.14, 23 USPQ2d 1780, 1783-84
n.14 (Fed. Cir. 1992), citing In re Gordon, 733 F.2d 900, 902,
221 USPQ 1125, 1127 (Fed. Cir. 1984). It is further
established that "[s]uch a suggestion may come from the nature
of the problem to be solved, leading inventors to look to
references relating to possible solutions to that problem."
Pro-Mold & Tool Co. v. Great Lakes Plastics, Inc., 75 F.3d
1568, 1573, 37 USPQ2d 1626, 1630 (Fed. Cir. 1996), citing In
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