Appeal No. 1998-0209
Application No. 08/452,153
evaluating such references it is proper to take into account
not only the specific teachings of the references but also the
inferences which one skilled in the art would reasonably be
expected to draw therefrom. In re Preda, 401 F.2d 825, 826,
159 USPQ 342, 344 (CCPA 1968).
In applying the test for obviousness, this panel of the
Board determines that it would have been obvious to one of
ordinary skill in the art, from a collective assessment of the
applied teachings, to replace the sealing portion [62] on the
upstanding wall [58] of closure portion [22] of Borse with an
annular ridge and to include a circumferential recess on the
inside surface of the urinal opening of Borse such as
disclosed by Jones. In our opinion, the incentive on the part
of one
having ordinary skill in the art for making this modification
would have been the desire to provide a cover and seal for the
urinal disclosed by Borse which is waterproof, easier to manu-
facture and simpler to use than the conventional snap-on cap
taught by Borse. See, the Jones patent, col. 2, lines 24-35.
The arguments advanced in the Brief relative to the
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