Appeal No. 1997-1665 Page 6
Application No. 08/289,134
F.2d 86, 91, 198 USPQ 210, 214 (CCPA 1978) ("[T]he PTO usually
must evaluate ... the level of ordinary skill solely on the
cold words of the literature."). Of course, “‘[e]very patent
application and reference relies to some extent upon knowledge
of persons skilled in the art to complement that [which is]
disclosed ....’” In re Bode, 550 F.2d 656, 660, 193 USPQ 12,
16 (CCPA 1977) (quoting In re Wiggins, 488 F.2d 538, 543, 179
USPQ 421, 424 (CCPA 1973)). Those persons “must be presumed
to know something” about the art
“apart from what the references disclose.” In re Jacoby, 309
F.2d 513, 516, 135 USPQ 317, 319 (CCPA 1962). With these
principles in mind, we address the obviousness vel non of the
following groups of claims:
• claims 1, 12, and 13
• claim 2
• claims 3-5
• claims 6 and 7
• claims 8 and 9
• claim 10
• claim 11
• claims 14, 15, and 17
• claim 16.
Claims 1, 12, and 13
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