Appeal No. 96-4021
Application 08/289,300
structure of the primary reference; nor is it that the claimed
invention must be expressly suggested in any one or all of the
references. Rather, the test is what the combined teachings of
the references would have suggested to those of ordinary skill in
the art. In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413, 425, 208 USPQ 871, 881
(CCPA 1981).
In the present case, the teachings of the applied
references would have provided the artisan with ample suggestion
to combine them in the manner proposed by the examiner. In this
regard, the rationale advanced by the examiner in support of the
proposed combinations finds reasonable support in the references
themselves, and has not been specifically challenged by the
appellant.
The appellant also argues that even if the references
were combined in the manner proposed, the resulting armrest
assembly would not meet various limitations in the appealed
claims. Such arguments are well taken in some instances, but
not in others.
With regard to independent claims 35 and 44, the
appellant contends that the proposed reference combination would
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