Appeal No. 1998-1655 Page 6
Application No. 08/367,766
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 the aforementioned principles and finding in mind,
we consider the appellants' arguments and the examiner's
responses regarding the following groups of claims:
• claims 1, 2, 11, and 20
• claim 3
• claim 4
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007