Appeal No. 1998-3128 Page 5
Application No. 08/624,874
We next find that the references represent the level of
ordinary skill in the art. See In re GPAC Inc., 57 F.3d 1573,
1579, 35 USPQ2d 1116, 1121 (Fed. Cir. 1995)(finding that the
Board of Patent Appeals and Interference did not err in
concluding that the level of ordinary skill was best
determined by the references of record); In re Oelrich, 579
F.2d 86, 91,
198 USPQ 210, 214 (CCPA 1978) ("[T]he PTO usually must
evaluate ... the level of ordinary skill solely on the cold
words of the literature."). Of course, “‘[e]very patent
application and reference relies to some extent upon knowledge
of persons skilled in the art to complement that [which is]
disclosed ....’”
In re Bode, 550 F.2d 656, 660, 193 USPQ 12, 16 (CCPA 1977)
(quoting In re Wiggins, 488 F.2d 538, 543, 179 USPQ 421, 424
(CCPA 1973)). Those persons “must be presumed to know
something” about the art “apart from what the references
disclose.”
In re Jacoby, 309 F.2d 513, 516, 135 USPQ 317, 319 (CCPA
1962). With the aforementioned principles and finding in mind,
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