Appeal No. 1997-0447
Application No. 08/231,513
established by combining the teachings of the prior art to produce the claimed invention,
absent some teaching, suggestion or incentive supporting the combination. The extent to
which such suggestion must be explicit in, or may be fairly inferred from, the references, is
decided on the facts of each case, in light of the prior art and its
relationship to the appellants' invention. As in all determinations under 35 U.S.C. §
103, the decision maker must bring judgment to bear. "It is impermissible, however,
simply to engage in a hindsight reconstruction of the claimed invention, using the
applicant's structure as a template and selecting elements from references to fill the gaps.
The references themselves must provide some teaching whereby the applicant's
combination would have been obvious". In re Gorman, 933 F.2d 982, 987, 18 USPQ2d
1885, 1888 (Fed. Cir. 1991) (citations omitted). That is, something in the prior
art as a whole must suggest the desirability, and thus the obviousness, of making the
combination. See In re Beattie, 974 F.2d 1309, 1312, 24 USPQ2d 1040, 1042 (Fed. Cir.
1992); Lindemann Maschinenfabrik GmbH v. American Hoist and Derrick Co.,
730 F.2d 1452, 1462, 221 USPQ 481, 488 (Fed. Cir. 1984). In determining
obviousness/nonobviousness, an invention must be considered "as a whole," 35 U.S.C. §
103, and claims must be considered in their entirety. Medtronic, Inc. v. Cardiac
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