Appeal No. 97-3295
Application No. 08/424,759
Uniroyal, Inc. v. Rudkin-Wiley Corp., 837 F.2d 1044, 1052, 5
USPQ2d 1434, 1439 (Fed. Cir.), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 825
(1988)). We find this to be lacking.
Groenewald does not explicitly, or by implication,
provide any teaching or suggestion that the body support
surface disclosed should or could be used in anything other
than in the orientation shown in Figures 2-4. According to
Groenewald,
[t]he structure of the mattress 10 is specifically
designed to provide a comfortable support to the
body of a person, in particular in the lumbar
regions of the body and thereby to assist in
relieving lumbago pains, i.e. muscular pains in the
lumbar region (column 2, lines 34-38),
which in our view would strongly indicate to one of ordinary
skill in the art that it should not be inclined with respect
to the surface upon which it rests. That is, it would appear
from this statement that the Groenewald device would not
perform its intended function if the support surface was so
inclined.
For this reason, it is our opinion that there would have
been no suggestion to modify the Groenewald mattress in the
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