Appeal No. 1997-2474 Page 7
Application No. 08/125,590
(finding that the Board of Patent Appeals and Interference did
not err in concluding that the level of ordinary skill in the
art was best determined by the references of record); In re
Oelrich, 579 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, every patent application and reference relies on the
knowledge of persons skilled in the art to complement its
disclosure. In re Bode, 550 F.2d 656, 660, 193 USPQ 12, 16
(CCPA 1977). Such persons must be presumed to know something
about the art apart from what the references teach.
In re Jacoby, 309 F.2d 513, 516, 135 USPQ 317, 319 (CCPA
1962). We address the obviousness of the claims in the
following groups:
• claims 1-8, 24, 25, 28, 29, and 31
• claims 9-12
• claim 13
• claims 14-23 and 26.
Claims 1-8, 24, 25, 28, 29, and 31
The appellants make two arguments regarding the
obviousness of claims 1-13, 24, 25, 28, and 31. We address
these seriatim.
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