Appeal No. 1999-2755
Application No. 08/599,105
a sublimination solid prior to electrodeposition (id. at 51-
53) or with a silicon rubber plug molded to fit within the
threaded bore of the nut (col. 6, ll. 4-21).
In applying the test for obviousness, this panel of the 4
Board determines that it would have been obvious at the time
the invention was made to one having ordinary skill in the
art, from a collective assessment of the applied teachings, to
fit a protective member to the surface of the groove formed in
the slider body of the AAPA prior to rust-proofing following,
for example, the teaching of Takahashi. In our opinion, the
incentive on the part of one having ordinary skill in the art
for making this modification would have simply been to gain
the art recognized benefit of the masking step, as readily
discerned from a review of the teachings of Takahashi.
Takahashi makes it apparent to us that one of the purposes of
masking a surface prior to electrodeposition is to prevent the
coating particles in an electrodeposition bath from adhering
4The test for obviousness is what the combined teachings
of references would have suggested to one of ordinary skill in
the art. See In re Young, 927 F.2d 588, 591, 18 USPQ2d 1089,
1091 (Fed. Cir. 1991) and In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413, 425, 208
USPQ 871, 881 (CCPA 1981).
8
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