Appeal No. 1998-1320
Application No. 08/305,643
exist. While it is reasonable to assume that a single 7, 8
segment LED display would be less expensive than multiple
7, 8 segment displays, as asserted by the Examiner, this fact
alone does not, in our view, establish that a skilled artisan
would have found it obvious to reconfigure the multiple digit
displays of either the admitted prior art or Null to provide
all of the claimed indicator functions in a single segmented
LED display. The 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).
We further agree with Appellant that the Examiner’s
reliance on In re Karlson, id., is misplaced with regard to
the present factual situation. Contrary to the facts
presented in Karlson in which certain elements and their
functions are removed and the retained elements perform the
same functions as before, the
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