Appeal No. 95-0954
Application 08/058,092
to use their skill to solve the problem. As stated in In re
Nomiya, 509 F.2d 566, 572, 184 USPQ 607, 613 (CCPA 1975):
The significance of evidence that a problem was
known in the prior art is, of course, that knowledge
of a problem provides a reason or motivation for
workers in the art to apply their skill to its
solution.
Such a solution clearly would have been to use a water soluble
and biodegradable carrier which has the characteristics of
polystyrene. Appellant acknowledges that ECO-FOAM, which is a
substantially dry, rigid, open-celled foam composed of over
95% corn starch and which generally resembles polystyrene, was
known in the art (specification, page 3, lines 13-26).
Appellant states that due to the high starch content of ECO-
FOAM, it is easily decomposed in water (see id.). Because a
water soluble, biodegradable foam which resembles polystyrene
was known in the art, one of ordinary skill in the art would
have been motivated to use it as a fragrance carrier to solve
the problem of polystyrene not being water soluble and
biodegradable.
Whistler discloses, as a carrier for liquid fragrances,
amylase-treated starch granules which have numerous pores
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