Appeal No. 96-3833
Application 08/014,320
Horsma et al. (Horsma) 4,543,474 Sep. 24, 19855
Claims 32 through 34 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as
being unpatentable over VanSickle in view of Kampe, and claims 35
through 37 and 39 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being
unpatentable over VanSickle in view of Bronnvall.
With regard to the rejection of claims 32 through 34, the
examiner concludes that it would have been obvious to substitute
a PTC strip heating element as taught by Kampe for the thermo-
statically controlled resistance strip heating element in
VanSickle’s heated wiper blade assembly. With regard to the
rejection of claims 35 through 37 and 39, the examiner concludes
that it would have been obvious to substitute an elongated
plate-shaped PTC strip heating element as taught by Bronnvall for
the thermostatically controlled resistance strip heating element
of VanSickle.
In arguing the patentability of claims 32 through 34 as a
group, appellant contends on page 6 of the brief that VanSickle
does not disclose a PTC type heater. Appellant further contends
on pages 6-8 of the brief that VanSickle teaches away from his
invention because the patentee’s element 34 is a “layer” (brief,
5 A copy of this reference also is not attached to this decision.
This reference was cited in the PTO Form 892 attached to the office action
dated April 24, 1995 (Paper No. 13).
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