Appeal No. 96-2623
Application No. 08/240,095
under appeal (i.e., the subject matter of claims 2, 3 and 6-12)
or improvements or modifications made by others to the invention
disclosed in the application for patent. Such success is not
pertinent to the nonobviousness of the advantages inherent in
what is specifically disclosed in the application are not to be
considered in determining nonobviousness. In re Vamco Machine
and Tool, Inc., 752 F.2d 1564, 1577, 224 USPQ 617, 625 (Fed. Cir.
1985). Furthermore, the appellants failed to submit any factual
evidence that would demonstrate the nexus between the sales and
the claimed invention - for example, an affidavit from the
purchaser explaining that the product was purchased due to the
claimed features recited claims 1, 4 and 5. In the present case,
the sales may have been due to lower manufacturing costs, the
market position of Stahl's Inc., prior relations between Stahl's
Inc. and other companies, or features of the product attractive
to the other companies but unrelated to the claimed subject
matter under appeal. In sum, the appellants simply have not
carried their burden to establish that a nexus existed between
any commercial success and the features claimed in the appealed
claims.
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