Ex parte HUGHES - Page 6




          Appeal No. 1997-3415                                                        
          Application No. 08/037,849                                                  


               The Federal Circuit states that "[t]he mere fact that the              
          prior art may be modified in the manner suggested by the                    
          Examiner does not make the modification obvious unless the                  
          prior art suggested the desirability of the modification." In               
          re Fritch, 972 F.2d 1260, 1266 n.14, 23 USPQ2d 1780, 1783-84                
          n.14 (Fed. Cir. 1992), citing In re Gordon, 733 F.2d 900, 902,              
          221 USPQ 1125, 1127 (Fed. Cir. 1984).  It is further                        
          established that "[s]uch a suggestion may come from the nature              
          of the problem to be solved, leading inventors to look to                   
          references relating to possible solutions to that problem."                 
          Pro-Mold & Tool Co. v. Great Lakes Plastics, Inc., 75 F.3d                  
          1568, 1573, 37 USPQ2d 1626, 1630 (Fed. Cir. 1996) citing In re              
          Rinehart,, 531 F.2d 1048, 1054, 189 USPQ 143, 149 (CCPA                     
          1976)(considering the problem to be solved in a determination               
          of obviousness).  The Federal Circuit reasons in Para-0rdnance              
          Mfg. Inc. v. SGS Importers Int'l Inc., 73 F.3d 1085, 1088-89,               
          37 USPQ2d 1237, 1239-40 (Fed. Cir. 1995), cert. denied, 519                 
          U.S. 822 (1996), that for the determination of obviousness,                 
          the court must answer whether one of ordinary skill in the art              
          who sets out to solve the problem and who had before him in                 

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