Appeal No. 95-2081
Application 07/825,778
contended that given the disclosure in Small that the minimum
recommended wall height should be "25 percent of the propeller
diameter" (col. 3, lines 49-50), and that a four inch
propeller is "a usual size" (answer, page 10), one following
the sizing of the wall suggested in Small would arrive at a
wall (24) having a height of one inch. The examiner further
urges that the size of the wall in Small is a matter of design
choice, and that modifications thereof merely involve a change
in size, which is within the level of skill in the art.
Even if we were to accept the examiner's reasoning
that a vertical wall may be suggested by Small at column 3,
lines 45-50, we find that the examiner's position with regard
to the height of the wall (24) in Small, seen best in Figures
4 and 6, is based on total speculation. Nowhere in Small is
there any indication of the possible size of the propeller
(25) there- in, and thus also of the minimum height of the
wall (24) which is said to be 25 percent of the propeller
diameter. In addition, we note that the examiner has provided
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