Appeal No. 1996-4073
Application No. 08/345,917
substrate. Their common substrates are not a common cathode.
Oimura and Suzuki teach the use of a common cathode, but the
anodes are not epitaxial layers on opposite sides of a
substrate. There is no suggestion or teaching in any of these
references that would lead one to make the common substrate of
Rutz or Rideout into a common cathode structure akin to Oimura
or Suzuki. The common substrates of Rutz and Rideout are
insulators and isolators, not active components.
The Federal Circuit states that "[t]he mere fact
that the prior art may be modified in the manner suggested by
the Examiner does not make the modification obvious unless the
prior art suggested the desirability of the modification."
In re Fritch, 972 F.2d 1260, 1266 n.14, 23 USPQ2d 1780, 1783-
84 n.14 (Fed. Cir. 1992), citing In re Gordon, 733 F.2d 900,
902, 221 USPQ 1125, 1127 (Fed. Cir. 1984). "Obviousness may
not be established using hindsight or in view of the teachings
or suggestions of the inventor." Para-Ordnance Mfg. v. SGS
Importers Int’l, 73 F.3d at 1087, 37 USPQ2d at 1239, citing
W. L. Gore & Assocs., Inc. v. Garlock, Inc., 721 F.2d at 1551,
1553, 220 USPQ at 311, 312-13.
Since Appellants’ specification provides the only
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