Appeal No. 2000-1339
Application 08/772,480
visible by abnormal plant height relative to the
boll loads. Mepiquat chloride is used to stop
cotton from going rank by modifying the cotton
plant’s growth characteristics [column 1, lines
46 through 65]
Van Steen discloses a method for applying liquid to
a crop using a wick applicator composed of a tubular
member 10 provided with openings 11 and covered with
textile material or cloth 12. The textile material or
cloth 12 is wetted with liquid flowing out of the
openings 11 and moved over the crop to distribute the
liquid thereto via direct contact. Van Steen makes it
clear that this applicator may be utilized to treat both
weeds and cultivated crops (see column 1, lines 8 through
11; and column 3, line 66, through column 4, line 4).
The test for obviousness is not whether the features
of a secondary reference may be bodily incorporated into
the structure of the primary reference; nor is it that
the claimed invention must be expressly suggested in any
one or all of the references. Rather, the test is what
the
9
Page: Previous 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007