Ex parte WEST - Page 15




          Appeal No. 1999-2259                                                        
          Application 08/711,614                                                      


          the cable tray design  teachings of Rinderer.  See Oetiker,                 
          977 F.2d 1443, 1447, 24 USPQ2d 1443, 1446.                                  
               The Federal Circuit instructs that "[t]he mere fact that               
          the prior art may be modified in the manner suggested by the                
          Examiner does not make the modification obvious unless the                  
          prior art suggested the desirability of the modification."  In              
          re Fritch, 972 F.2d 1260, 1266 n.14, 23 USPQ2d 1780, 1783-84                
          n.14 (Fed. Cir. 1992), citing In re Gordon, 733 F.2d 900, 902,              
          221 USPQ 1125, 1127 (Fed. Cir. 1984).  It is further                        
          established that “such a suggestion may come from the nature                
          of the problem to be solved, leading inventors to look to                   
          references relating to possible solutions to that problem.”                 
          Pro-Mold & Tool Co. v. Great Lakes Plastics, Inc., 75 F.3d                  
          1568, 1573, 37 USPQ2d 1626, 1630 (Fed. Cir. 1996), citing In                
          re Rinehart, 531 F.2d 1048, 1054, 189 USPQ 143, 149 (CCPA                   
          1976)(considering the problem to be solved in a determination               
          of obviousness).  The Federal Circuit reasons in Para-Ordnance              
          Mfg. Inc. v. SGS Importers Int’l Inc., 73 F.3d 1085, 1088-89,               
          37 USPQ2d 1237, 1239-40 (Fed. Cir. 1995), that for the                      
          determination of obviousness, the court must answer whether                 

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