Appeal No. 97-3345
Application 08/332,936
iron pipes; column 8, lines 56 through 61) and Nemoto (cast
iron or steel pipes; column 1, lines 13 and 14) are viewed as
representative of the knowledge in the art of the known method
of trenchless excavation pipelaying, as acknowledged by
appellant (specification, pages 2 and 3).
Considering the applied teachings as a whole, we
conclude, as did the examiner, that it would have been obvious
to practice the invention of McGugan with the pipes being
placed horizontally in the earth. It readily appears to us
that the incentive on the part of one having ordinary skill in
the art for making this modification would have simply been
to gain the expected benefits of the well-known trenchless
excavation method.
The argument in the brief (pages 20 through 22) is
not convincing of the patentability of claim 35. Akin to our
analysis of the patents to Sweeney and St. Onge, supra, we
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