Appeal No. 95-4590
Application 08/056,188
appellants, we do not see that the examiner has in any way
relied upon impermissible hindsight in combining the applied
references as stated above.
From our perspective, the examiner has merely taken into
account only knowledge which was within the level of ordinary
skill at the time the claimed invention was made and has not
relied upon knowledge gleaned only from appellants'
disclosure, thus, the reconstruction as stated above is
proper. See In re McLaughlin, 443 F.2d 1392, 1395, 170 USPQ
209, 212 (CCPA 1971).
As for appellants' argument (brief, page 3) that
none of the references applied by the examiner shows the
grommet and ring structures specified by claim 21, we must
agree with the examiner that appellants have not used the term
"grommets" in its normal sense. By definition a "grommet" is 3
"1. a ring of rope or metal used to fasten the edge of a sail
3 Webster’s New World Dictionary, 2nd College Edition,
Prentiss Hall Press, 1986.
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