Appeal No. 1996-1891
Application 08/058,478
locating the damping material in the U-shaped turn that opens
upward, Taddeo does not indicate that this is the only
suitable location for the damping material. Consequently, we
are of the opinion that one skilled in the art would have
understood Taddeo to be teaching that the mohair can be
located anywhere along the length of the waveguide, provided
it completely fills the cross-sectional area of a portion of
the waveguide without interfering with the transducer or the
open end of the waveguide. Thus, it would have been prima
facie obvious to position Taddeo's mohair damping material
anywhere along the length of Bose's waveguide, e.g., in the
portion of the waveguide closest to the transducer or at the
U-shaped turn that is closest to the transducer. To the
extent appellant is arguing that the prima facie case is
rebutted by the fact that his invention, by locating the
damping material only near the transducer, achieves
unexpectedly good results, we are unpersuaded, for two
reasons. The first is that this argument is not commensurate
in scope with the claim, which does not require that the
damping material be located only near the transducer. The
second reason is the record before us, including appellant's
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