Appeal No. 97-1473
Application 08/492,376
in the lower space and the numbered disks would be usable and
viewable from both faces of the lottery number picker, and as
suggested in Stebing should
therefore advantageously include a number/symbol on the
opposite faces of each disk. It matters not that the reason
for combining the teachings as noted above is not the same as
appellant's reason for the noted modification. The law is
clear that the
purpose proposed as to the reason why an artisan would have
found the claimed subject matter to have been obvious under 35
U.S.C. § 103 need not be identical to the purpose or problem
which the patent applicant indicates to be the basis for having
made the invention. See In re Beattie, 974 F.2d 1309, 1312, 24
USPQ2d 1040, 1042 (Fed. Cir. 1992) and In re Dillon, 919 F.2d
688, 693, 16 USPQ2d 1897, 1901 (Fed. Cir. 1990). Moreover, it
is not required that the prior art teachings relied upon
disclose the same advantage that appellant alleges, all that is
required is that there is a reasonable suggestion to do what the
claimed subject matter encompasses. See In re Kronig, 539 F.2d
1300, 1304, 190 USPQ 425, 428 (CCPA 1976) and Ex parte Obiaya,
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