Appeal No. 97-1037
Application 08/467,869
Initially, we note that an obviousness question cannot
be approached on the basis that an artisan having ordinary skill
would have known only what they read in references, because such
artisan must be presumed to know something about the art apart
from what the references disclose. See In re Jacoby, 309 F.2d
513, 516, 135 USPQ 317, 319 (CCPA 1962). Further, a conclusion
of obviousness may be made from common knowledge and common sense
of the person of ordinary skill in the art without any specific
hint or suggestion in a particular reference. See In re Bozek,
416 F.2d 1385, 1390, 163 USPQ 545, 549 (CCPA 1969).
With the above in mind, we appreciate from our reading
of appellant’s underlying specification (page 1) that, at the
time of the present invention, it was well known to effect a
vibration-and-sound damping insert by coating a rubber layer on
both sides of thin metal plates or strips. To solve the problem
of depressions being formed in the rubber layer facing the rod of
a hydraulic piston-cylinder unit, it was known to form the insert
as two thin steel plates bonded together by a layer of adhesive.
However, appellant points out that a drawback with this solution
5
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007