Appeal No. 96-3854
Application No. 08/027,872
device having a filter medium 26 mounted parallel to the flow
path when valves 18 and 22 are opened. It is the examiner's
position that
[i]t would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in
the art at the time the invention was made, to provide
Bach with the flow path of Madden because this would
involve a mere minor change in flow path, and both
references are clearly from the sampling art. . . .the
filter band or strip of Bach (col. 2, next to the last
paragraph) which passes through the chamber clearly
suggests the coupon form. One would be motivated to
provide the band or strip with tear or score lines to
easily remove the used part of the filter for detailed
analysis or for storage. (answer, pages 3 and 4)
In addition, on page 5 of the answer, the examiner asserts
that one of ordinary skill in the art would have been
motivated to make the Bach flow parallel in order to return
the fluid sample to the main flow.
Appellants argue that the combination of Bach and Madden
would not lead one of ordinary skill in the art to appellants'
invention (corrected brief, page 5). We agree.
The Bach patent discloses a method and apparatus for
determining the colloid index of a liquid, such as water being
treated in a reverse osmosis "desalification" [sic] system
(col. 1, lines 39-41; and col. 5, lines 16-19). The disclosed
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