Ex parte SIMPSON - Page 10




          Appeal No. 1999-0515                                      Page 10           
          Application No. 08/620,256                                                  


          to disclose a ball having the surface appearance of a seamed                
          ball.                                                                       
               Sain discloses a baseball pitching educational device the              
          purpose of which is to allow pitchers to learn how to grip a                
          ball to impart certain spins to it as it is being thrown toward             
          a batter.  The surface appearance of the ball is that of a                  
          seamed ball that is typically pitched.  The ball is provided                
          with a bore through which a shaft is inserted to protrude from              
          the surface of the ball, but the ball is free to spin with                  
          respect to the shaft.                                                       
               While the feature missing from Nowak is present in Sain,               
          the mere fact that the Nowak ball could be modified by adding               
          the surface appearance disclosed by Sain does not make such a               
          modification obvious unless the prior art suggests the                      
          desirability of doing so.  See In re Gordon, 733 F.2d 900, 902,             
          221 USPQ 1125, 1127 (Fed. Cir. 1984).  In the present case, we              
          fail to perceive any teaching, suggestion or incentive in                   
          either reference which would have led one of ordinary skill in              
          the art to do so.  We arrive at this conclusion for several                 
          reasons.  First, neither baseball nor any other game in which a             
          ball is thrown in the fashion of a baseball is contemplated by              







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