Appeal No. 1998-0146
Application 08/407,058
ordinary skill in the art would have looked to Nonaka for a
solution to the problem of cleaning a lens in an optical
disk driver. However, the Examiner's reasoning that it
would have been obvious to alternate the direction of
rotation of the cleaning disk because this would "wear the
cleaning member and clean the objective lens more evenly,
providing longevity for the cleaning disk" (FR4; EA5), is
logical by itself without Nonaka. When the lens is brushed
in only one direction, the lens will not be cleaned evenly
on both sides and the hairs on the brush will tend to wear
from the side that hits the lens first. On the other hand,
without a reference, it is difficult to say that this is not
hindsight based on Appellants' disclosure. On balance, we
conclude that the Examiner's reasoning needs to be supported
by a reference (other than Nonaka). Accordingly, we
conclude that the Examiner has failed to establish a prima
facie case of obviousness with respect to claim 2. The
rejection of claim 2 is reversed.
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