Appeal No. 2000-1628
Application No. 09/163,013
patterns. Of the control pattern material, Czernik explains
that
[t]he structural or control material has been
referred to as being relatively incompressible,
which it is insofar as it compares to the structural
strength of the sealing material it is used to
protect. It is not, however, incompressible in an
absolute sense, as is clear from the foregoing
description and from FIG. 3. The important fact is
that it is less compressible and more resistant to
crushing than the elastomeric materials it protects
against destructive compression [column 5, lines 38
through 46].
The appellants argue (see pages 8 through 10 in the
brief) that the foregoing reference combinations are improper
because Kawaguchi and Yoshino emphasize the “softness” of the
spacer material, and therefore teach away from using the
relatively incompressible material disclosed by Czernik for
the spacer layer.
Given Czernik’s explanation of the relative nature of the
term “incompressible,” it is arguable that one of ordinary
skill in the art would not view either Kawaguchi or Yoshino as
teaching away from the use of Czernik’s relatively
incompressible control material as a “soft” spacer layer.
Nonetheless, there is nothing in the collective teachings of
the respective reference combinations that would have
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