Appeal No. 98-1193
Application No. 08/448,687
invention. See Ex parte Clapp, 227 USPQ 972, 973 (Bd. Pat.
App. & Int. 1985). To this end, the requisite motivation must
stem from some teaching, suggestion or inference in the prior
art as a whole or from the knowledge generally available to
one of ordinary skill in the art and not from the appellant's
disclosure. See, for example, Uniroyal, Inc. v. Rudkin-Wiley
Corp., 837 F.2d 1044, 1052, 5 USPQ2d 1434, 1439 (Fed. Cir.),
cert. denied, 488 U.S. 825 (1988). Claim 1 is directed to a
positioning and fastening strap that is “elongated, flexible,
durable and non-stretchable.” As explained in the
specification, the strap is provided with at least two sets of
marks along its length, the purpose of this being to allow a
single strap to be utilized to locate the position of
different construction elements such as roof trusses and wall
joists. As defined in claim 1, the strap comprises a flat
surface having two sets of marks on one side, with each set
extending inward from an opposite edge of the strap. Both
sets of marks are “T-shaped” with each “T” forming a
centerline that is perpendicular to its respective edge, and
with the cross-bar being located inwardly from the edge. A
key factor in the claim is the requirement of “said periodic
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