Appeal No. 96-4162
Application 08/313,901
apparent that the reference combination proposed by the examiner stems only from an
impermissible hindsight reconstruction of the appellant’s invention.
In the mold of Schwartzburg, all side surfaces of the molded article are formed by
the mold surface of cavity piece (11), not by an axially displaceable end member in
combination with two side members. Thus, even if Schwartzburg were combined with
either Wilkinson or Baugh as proposed by the examiner, we find no teaching in the
references which would support the examiner’s conclusion that an end member having a
recess enclosing the frusto-conical sealing area, in combination with two side members as
required by independent claims 1 and 3, would have been an obvious design choice. In
other words, the examiner has resorted to speculation, unfounded assumptions and/or
hindsight reconstruction in reaching this conclusion.
Given the very disparate shapes of the airbag cover molded by the method of Zushi
and the container disclosed by either Wilkinson or Baugh, it is not apparent why one of
ordinary skill in the molding art would look to the Zushi method as a starting point for
molding the type of container disclosed by Wilkinson or Baugh. Moreover, even if Zushi
were combined with either Wilkinson or Baugh as proposed by the examiner, we find no
teaching in any of these references to support the examiner’s conclusion that it would have
been obvious to include in the mold an end member enclosing the frusto-conical sealing
area and two side members, as required by independent claims 1 and 3. Therefore, it is
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