Ex parte SCHUMACHER - Page 12




          Appeal No. 99-0629                                        Page 12           
          Application No. 08/778,059                                                  


          appellant's air compressing mechanism (brief, page 6).  The                 
          appellant does not set forth any specific basis for this                    
          assertion.                                                                  
               Like the examiner (answer, page 5), we find that Breneman              
          merely teaches one means for launching projectiles.  Tsao                   
          recognizes air compression as an alternative to the type of                 
          propulsion mechanism disclosed by Breneman and suggests                     
          advantages, such as safety and durability, of using an air                  
          compression mechanism (column 1, lines 5 through 36).  For the              
          foregoing reasons, we are satisfied that the combined                       
          teachings of Breneman and Tsao would have suggested to one of               
          ordinary skill in the art modification of the Breneman                      
          apparatus by replacing the direct impact mechanism with an air              
          compression mechanism.                                                      
               As to the specific question of "teaching away," our                    
          reviewing court in In re Gurley, 27 F.3d 551, 553, 31 USPQ2d                
          1130, 1331 (Fed. Cir. 1994) stated:                                         
               A reference may be said to teach away when a person of                 
               ordinary skill, upon [examining] the reference, would be               
               discouraged from following the path set out in the                     
               reference, or would be led in a direction divergent from               
               the path that was taken by the applicant.                              









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