Appeal No. 96-0957
Application 08/138,359
assembly/syringe. The purpose of the
lock/holding means (26) disclosed in Quaas is
to prevent any movement of the blood
container. The purpose of the lock/holding
means (22, 24, 26, 28) in Feeney, Jr. is to
prevent any movement of the needle (18). One
of ordinary skill in the art would find it
obvious to exchange one type of lock/holding
means for another where the locks/holding
means are directed to preventing movement in
a syringe or needle assembly. (See Quaas,
column 3, lines 12-41.) [Pages 7 and 8.]
We do not agree with the examiner’s position. The mere
fact that, as a broad proposition, both Feeney and Quaas disclose
a locking/holding means does not serve as a proper basis for
concluding that it would been obvious to substitute in Feeney for
his locking/holding means the locking/holding means of Quaas.
Instead, it is the teachings of the prior art which must provide
the motivation or suggestion to combine the references. See,
e.g., In re Fritch, 972 F.2d 1260, 1266, 23 USPQ2d 1780, 1783-84
(Fed. Cir. 1992). Here, we find no such suggestion.
Feeney discloses a tube 16 which functions as a
protective sheath, a piston 14, a needle 18 mounted on one end of
the piston, a means for affixing the barrel 12 of a syringe
mounted on the other end of the piston (see column 3, line 5) and
a locking/holding means in the form of buttons 22 on the outer
surface of the piston which interact with (1) “rails” or grooves
5
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