Appeal No. 97-1092
Application 08/412,491
not both.
Henkin discloses a hand-held, water massage apparatus
designed to discharge water through different sets of openings
in a continuous shower spray, a pulsed shower spray or a
hydromassage stream. A control knob 130 on the apparatus
operates a valve 190, best shown in Figures 10 through 12, to
select any one of the foregoing operational modes or an OFF
mode (see column 6, line 32 et seq.).
According to the examiner,
[i]n view of the teaching of Henkin et al, it would
have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the
art at the time of the invention to have modified
the faucet valve of Magnenat et al to include the
faucet head of Henkin et al to provide a faucet head
containing a first and second outlet producing a
stream or spray flow stream and means to block fluid
flow through one or both of the outlets [main
answer, page 5].
Even if Henkin is analogous art (the appellant argues
that it is not), the combined teachings of Magnenat and Henkin
do not justify the examiner’s conclusion of obviousness. The
water discharge devices disclosed by these references differ
substantially in structure and intended use. The only
-5-
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007