Appeal No. 2004-0440 Page 5 Application No. 10/083,171 may not include an on/off switch”(column 1, line 64) does not meet the multi-position circuit and switch limitation recited in claims 1 and 5. The examiner’s rejection rests in part on the examiner’s position that it would have been obvious, in view of the teaching of a three position switch having LOW heat, HIGH heat and OFF positions in a hair curling device by Thaler, to provide such a three position switch in the fragrance dispenser of Stein. Even assuming that Thaler is considered analogous prior art to appellants’ invention (see pages 5-7 of appellants’ brief), we find absolutely no suggestion therein to provide such a switch in Stein’s fragrance dispenser. While Thaler does not articulate any advantages of using a three position switch over a simple on/off switch, one of ordinary skill in the art would infer that the LOW and HIGH heat settings impart different qualities to the curl being applied to the hair by Thaler’s device, a consideration which has no relevance in Stein’s fragrance dispenser. Neither Thaler nor Stein provides any hint or suggestion that LOW and HIGH heat settings would be desirable or advantageous for the fragrance dispenser of Stein. Freidel, the additional reference relied upon by the examiner for its teaching of the use of a circuit board in a vehicle vaporizer having a plug adapted to be received in the socket of an automobile cigarette lighter, also fails to provide any suggestion to place a three position switch in Stein’s automotive fragrance dispenser. In fact, Freidel suggests a different approach to vary the output of the fragrance or vapor which doesPage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 NextLast modified: November 3, 2007