Appeal No. 2000-0605
Application No. 08/803,779
composition consisting essentially of an ionomeric modified
poly-ether-ester material containing from 1% to 50% by weight
ionomer, said poly-ether-ester being a block copolymer
containing both polyether and ester blocks modified by an
ionomer, said ionomer being a copolymer of ethylene with a 1-
10% by weight methacrylic acid converted to methacrylate salt.
The examiner concedes that the composition disclosed by
Hillier is not the composition recited in independent claim
13. However, the examiner takes the position that it would
have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the
time of appellant's invention to use the improved polyester
type copolymer composition taught by Kobayashi in the
polyester medical containers and devices disclosed in Hillier
in order to provide containers and devices with improved
moldability, mechanical properties and transparency (answer,
pages 3-4).
The test for obviousness is what the combined teachings
of the 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). Indeed, a prima
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