Appeal No. 96-2855
Application No. 08/190,227
However, Regimand cannot be considered to be within
Appellant’s field of endeavor merely because both relate to
analytical chemistry. Regimand measures asphalt content using
a neutron source and detector. Appellant measures glucose
in blood using a near-infrared energy source and detector. We
find measuring blood content to be a totally different field
than measuring asphalt content. We are not inclined to hold,
as the Examiner contends, that any or all chemical analysis
should be
considered the same field of endeavor. This is especially so
without any evidentiary support.
However, Regimand may still be analogous if it is
"reasonably pertinent to the particular problem with which the
inventor is involved." Id. See also In re Paulsen, 30 F.3d
1475, 1481, 31 USPQ 2d 1671, 1675-76 (Fed. Cir. 1994). A
reference is reasonably pertinent if, even though it may be in
a different field from that of the inventor’s endeavor, it is
one which, because of the matter with which it deals,
logically would have (not could have) commended itself to an
inventor’s attention in considering his problem. Thus the
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