Appeal 97-2232
Application 08/209,268
ORDERED that the examiner's rejection of claims 1-21
as being unpatentable under 35 U.S.C. § 103 over Grybek,
Wagner and Campbell is reversed.
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The claimed methods calls for the use of an aqueous
solution containing three elements comprising (1) a chelating
agent, (2) humic acid and (3) an alpha-keto acid to combat
plant infestation by fungus (claim 1) or insects (claim 13).
The examiner found prior art references describing application
of each of the three elements, some in combination with
others, to plants for a variety of reasons. Based on the
prior art the examiner reasoned that the claimed methods would
have been obvious.
Our appellate reviewing court recently made the following
observation in Smiths Industries Medical Systems, Inc. v.
Vital Signs, Inc., 183 F.3d 1347, 1356, 51 USPQ2d 1415, 1420-
21 (Fed. Cir. 1999):
There is no basis for concluding that an invention
would have been obvious solely because it is a
combination of elements that were known in the art
at the time of the invention. The relevant inquiry
is whether there is a reason, suggestion, or
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