Appeal No. 96-2995
Application 08/383,608
When an artisan is directed to use a generic device in a
prior art teaching and there is no indication that one species
is better or worse than any other, the artisan would expect
any of the conventionally known species to be equally
selectable for use. The situation here is not one where the
artisan must choose from an extremely large number of
possibilities with no expectation of success. Rather, the
artisan here would have been aware that there were only a
relatively small number of no-hands- required switches which
could be activated to perform a non-steering function, while
the driver continues to keep his hands on the steering wheel.
The switch shown by Rakos is activated in response to the
pressure between the arms and the body of the operator [column
2, lines 3 to 4]. Rakos' switch, thus, performs substantially
the same function as the disclosed and claimed switch.
Next, Appellant argues that Kawana does not recognize the
problem of a busy driver needing his hands and legs for normal
vehicle control actions, and that none of the cited references
recognize[s] the problem of the busy driver [brief, page 12].
We disagree. Kawana expressly discloses the use of the
handgrip of the bus driver to activate the message playback
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