Appeal 2007-1331
Application 10/296,814
also KSR, 127 S.Ct. at 1734, 82 USPQ2d at 1391 (“While the sequence of these
questions might be reordered in any particular case, the [Graham] factors continue
to define the inquiry that controls.”)
The Supreme Court in KSR explained, “[o]ften, it will be necessary for a
court to look to interrelated teachings of multiple patents; the effects of demands
known to the design community or present in the marketplace; and the background
knowledge possessed by a person having ordinary skill in the art, all in order to
determine whether there was an apparent reason to combine the known elements in
the fashion claimed by the patent at issue.” Id. at 1740-41, 82 USPQ2d at 1396.
The Court noted that “[t]o facilitate review, this analysis should be made explicit.”
Id., citing In re Kahn, 441 F.3d 977, 988, 78 USPQ2d 1329, 1336 (Fed. Cir. 2006)
(“[R]ejections on obviousness grounds cannot be sustained by mere conclusory
statements; instead, there must be some articulated reasoning with some rational
underpinning to support the legal conclusion of obviousness”). However, “the
analysis need not seek out precise teachings directed to the specific subject matter
of the challenged claim, for a court can take account of the inferences and creative
steps that a person of ordinary skill in the art would employ.” Id.
ANALYSIS
Claim Interpretation
Claim 10, the sole independent claim, recites “first, second and third
articulations coupling said first and second table elements for rotation relative to
one another about first and second axes” and “said second articulation being a
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