Appeal No. 2002-1808 Page 5
Application No. 09/028,059
tungsten carbide and cobalt, and thus it is not inventive to
discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine
experimentation when general conditions are disclosed in
the prior art. [answer at pages 3 to 4].
The specification discloses that:
It is essential that the base wheel 1 made from a cemented
metal carbide has a Young’s modulus in the range from
45000 to 70000 kgf/mm2 . . . When the Young’s modulus of
the base wheel 1 is too low, the base wheel 1 is subject to
occurrence of warping and undulation by the resistance
force received during the cutting works with the multiple
cutting wheel assembly so that the advantage of decreasing
the thickness of the base wheel to be obtained by the use of
a cemented metal carbide is lost. When the Young’s
modulus of the base wheel exceeds the above mentioned
upper limit, on the other hand, such a high Young’s modulus
is necessarily accompanied by an increase of brittleness
so that the base wheel may be subject to cracking and
breaking during cutting works to cause a great danger
(pages 11 to 12).
The examiner argues that the choice of a particular Young’s modulus is a matter
of design choice depending on the workpiece to be cut. We do not agree. Appellants’
specification clearly teaches that the choice of the Young’s modulus solves certain
problems as such the recited Young’s modulus cannot be considered a matter of
design choice. See In re Kuhle, 526 F.2d 553, 555, 188 USPQ 7, 9 (CCPA 1975).
The 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,
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