Appeal No. 1999-2630
Application 08/341,464
At best, the McLaughlin declaration and the references
noted by the appellants show no more than a generalized
“continuing need for product improvement in the diaper tab
field, including a need to improve fingerlift arrangement[s]
for diaper tabs” (declaration, page 4). To establish long felt
need as an indicator of non-obviousness, objective evidence
must be presented which demonstrates the existence of a problem
which has been recognized in the industry and has remained
unsolved over a long period of time. See Vandenberg v. Dairy
Equip. Co., 740 F.2d 1560, 1567, 224 USPQ 195, 199 (Fed. Cir.
1984). Once this long felt need has been established, it must
further be shown that the claimed invention satisfied that
need. See In re Cavanagh, 436 F.2d 491, 496, 168 USPQ 466, 471
(CCPA 1971). The appellants’ evidence establishes neither a
recognized long-felt problem or that the claimed invention
solved such a problem. Moreover, the mere age of the
references is not persuasive of the unobviousness of their
combination absent evidence that, notwithstanding knowledge of
the references, the art tried and failed to solve a particular
problem. See In re Wright, 569 F.2d 1124, 1127, 193 USPQ 332,
335 (CCPA 1977). As indicated above,
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