Appeal No. 2004-1150
Application No. 09/924,490
to that of the base metal (page 43, first column). The fabrication
of airframes is one of several areas where friction stir welding
techniques could be applied to great advantage (page 45, Table 2).
The test for anticipation is whether a single prior art
reference discloses, expressly or under the principles of
inherency, each and every element of a claimed invention. RCA
Corp. v. Applied Digital Data Systems, Inc., 730 F.2d 1440, 1444,
221 USPQ 385, 388 (Fed. Cir. 1984), cert. dismissed, 468 U.S. 1228
(1984). A reference anticipates a claim if it discloses the
claimed invention such that a skilled artisan could take its
teachings in combination with his own knowledge of the particular
art and be in possession of the invention. In re Graves, 69 F.3d
1147, 1152, 36 USPQ2d 1697, 1701 (Fed. Cir. 1995), cert. denied,
517 U.S. 1124 (1996).
There appears to be no dispute that the Dawes publication
discloses the same friction stir butt welding technique recited in
the claims. The main issue, as framed by appellants, is whether
Dawes discloses using this known welding technique to join
structural airframe components. As appellants see it, Dawes at
best merely suggests as a possibility for further investigating the
use of friction stir butt welding for joining structural airframe
components.
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