Appeal No. 1999-1064 Page 6
Application No. 08/654,766
the embodiment of Figure 2 a cylindrical body bounded at the
top by a flange (6) and at the bottom by an inverted cone-
shaped portion (8) that has no flange. According to the
British invention, it is necessary to “ensure a fluid-tight
seal of the plug in the bore” (emphasis added), which is
accomplished the use of flanges at one or both ends, with the
oil being retained in the narrowed waist portion (page 1, line
59 et seq.; page 2, lines 12-22 and 75-95). Thus, the British
reference fails to disclose or teach a solid piece having an
essentially uniform cross-sectional area along its entire
longitudinal length, as is required by the four independent
claims.
The examiner has taken the position that it would have
been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the
British reference by providing solid piece 5 with an
essentially uniform cross-sectional area along its length, in
view of the teaching of the Japanese reference, suggestion
being “[t]he motivation provided by the secondary references”
(Answer, page 4). The examiner has not pointed out any portion
of either reference as the basis for the “motivation” to make
the proposed modification to the solid piece of the British
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