Appeal No. 1999-2092 Page 15
Application No. 08/798,718
The appellant argues (brief, pp. 6-7) that "SALVADORI
does not disclose the line of weakness occupying the greater
portion of the length of one side of a polygonal bag" and that
"there is nothing in SALVADORI that would suggest this
change."
We agree with the examiner that the claimed subject
matter would have been obvious at the time the invention was
made to a person having ordinary skill in the art. In that
regard, we note that Salvadori is silent with respect to the
ratio of the length of the preformed tear seam 46 to the
length of one side of the polygonal bag 10. Thus, it was left
up to the skilled artisan to determine that ratio.3
This accords with the general rule that discovery of an
optimum value of a result effective variable (in this case,
the optimum ratio (i.e., greater portion)) is ordinarily
within the skill of the art. See In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272,
3We observe that the conclusion of obviousness may be
made from "common knowledge and common sense" of the person of
ordinary skill in the art (see In re Bozek, 416 F.2d 1385,
1390, 163 USPQ 545, 549 (CCPA 1969)).
Page: Previous 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007