Appeal No. 96-0401 Page 7
Application No. 08/127,304
[t]he Manns patents both discloses a multiwell test plate
assembly comprising a holding tray (24), a filter medium
(22) received in the holding tray, a collimator (20)
having wells (28), and a carrier plate (26) for
supporting the holding tray. The Manns patents fail to
teach 1) the collimator being removably disposed in the
holding tray and 2) the holding tray being a solid plate
without holes. Even though all the structural parts of
the Manns' assembly are thermally bonded whereby all
parts are integral, it would have been obvious to one of
ordinary skill in the art to make the parts separable . .
. Furthermore, it would have been obvious to one of
ordinary skill in the art to make the holding tray from a
solid plate without holes for the extended storage and
analysis of biological samples.
The appellants argue (brief, pp. 8-14) that the subject
matter of claim 1 would not have been suggested by the
teachings of Manns '442 or Manns '215. We agree for the
reasons set forth below.
We agree with the examiner (answer, p. 6) that the
collimator (20) is initially separable from the holding tray
(24). Accordingly, prior to the thermal bonding of the
collimator (20) to the holding tray (24) it would be
appropriate to characterize the collimator (20) as being
removably disposed within the holding tray (24). However, we
see no evidence, as shown by some objective teaching in the
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