Ex Parte Schulze et al - Page 4

              Appeal 2007-0689                                                                     
              Application 10/329,825                                                               
              material such as aluminum” and including a base 4, an annular wall 5                 
              extending downwardly from the base and terminating in a peripheral edge 6,           
              and a central supporting structure 7 joined with and extending downwardly            
              from the base (Hillburger, col. 3, ll. 23-30).                                       
              FF4. Holman discloses a method of forming tubing by welding together                 
              two surfaces of non-ferrous metal such as aluminum or aluminum alloy, for            
              example, comprising the steps of feeding a flat strip 10 of non-ferrous metal        
              into a machine, using wire wheels 18 to eliminate all oxides and foreign             
              elements from adjoining surfaces to be welded, welding the surfaces, and             
              applying transverse pressure to the weld during its transformation from a            
              solid to a molten to a solid state.  No flux is used during the welding step.        
              The edges of the tubular strip are welded in butting relation, thus forming          
              smooth internal faces and eliminating waste of material (Holman, col. 1, ll.         
              37-51, 70-71, col. 2, ll. 19-26).  Holman’s method produces a simple,                
              hollow, cylindrical longitudinal-seam welded aluminum alloy tube.  Holman            
              does not disclose any particular application for the aluminum alloy tubes            
              produced by the method and, in particular, does not disclose use of these            
              tubes for air spring pistons.                                                        

                                      PRINCIPLES OF LAW                                            
                    Where obviousness is based on a combination of prior art references,           
              the fact finder must determine what the prior art teaches, whether it teaches        
              away from the claimed invention, and whether it motivates a combination of           
              the teachings of the references to arrive at the claimed invention.  DyStar          
              Textilfarben GmbH & Co. Deutschland KG v. C.H. Patrick Co., 464 F.3d                 
              1356, 1363, 80 USPQ2d 1641, 1647 (Fed. Cir. 2006).                                   

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