Appeal No. 2004-0247 Page 4
Application No. 09/899,664
which the inventor was involved. See In re Wood, 599 F.2d 1032, 1036, 202 USPQ 171,
174 (CCPA 1979). A reference is reasonably pertinent if, even though it may be in a
different field of endeavor, it logically would have commended itself to an inventor's
attention in considering his problem because of the matter with which it deals. See In re
Clay, 966 F.2d 656, 659, 23 USPQ2d 1058, 1061 (Fed. Cir. 1992).
The field of the inventor’s endeavor is that of improvements in snowboard
bindings. Swanson discloses means for securing keys to a key case which comprises a
pair of opposed axially oriented screws that are received in opposite ends of a common
nut. Clearly, Swanson is not in the same field as the appellant’s endeavors. The
problem to which the appellant has directed his inventive efforts is the attachment of a
highback to a snowboard binding in such a manner as to simplify the structure and to
increase the range of orientation of the highback with respect to the baseplate. The
objective of the Swanson invention is to allow the length of the pivot upon which the
keys are mounted in a key case to be adjustable so that more or less keys can be
accommodated thereon. While it is true that Swanson utilizes a pair of axially aligned
screws engaging a single nut, we agree with the appellant that Swanson is not
reasonably pertinent to his invention because Swanson is concerned only with providing
a shorter or longer pivot point, and not with mounting one component to another in such
a manner as to increase the range of orientation therebetween while simplifying the
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