Appeal No. 2001-0464 Page 6
Application No. 08/888,967
footrest from the forward support bar of the ski lift chair,
Piper does not teach or suggest coupling a clasp of a
snowboard support and tether to a restraint bar of a
chairlift.
In our view, the only suggestion for modifying Westwood
in the manner proposed by the examiner to meet the above-noted
limitations stems from hindsight knowledge derived from the
appellants' own disclosure. The use of such hindsight
knowledge to support an obviousness rejection under 35 U.S.C.
§ 103 is, of course, impermissible. See, for example, W. L.
Gore and Assocs., Inc. v. Garlock, Inc., 721 F.2d 1540, 1553,
220 USPQ 303, 312-13 (Fed. Cir. 1983), cert. denied, 469 U.S.
851 (1984). It follows that we cannot sustain the examiner's
rejections of claims 6 to 10.
CONCLUSION
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