Appeal No. 2000-1142 Page 5
Application No. 08/753,230
edges filter media are embedded in the plastic frame and reinforced with a metal strip.
(Col. 1, ll. 46 to 48).
Appellants have not argued that the references do not disclose or render obvious
the process steps of the claimed invention. Rather, Appellants argue that Brimberg can
only be used with planar sheets and the structure of Brimberg is not compatible with an
accordion type filter of Wolf. (Brief, p. 4 and 5). “The test for obviousness is not
whether the features of a secondary reference may be bodily incorporated into the
structure of the primary reference . . . Rather, the test is what the combined teachings of
those references would have suggested to those of ordinary skill in the art.” In re Keller,
642 F.2d 413, 425, 208 USPQ 871, 881 (CCPA 1981). See also In re Sneed, 710 F.2d
1544, 1550, 218 USPQ 385, 389 (Fed. Cir. 1983) (“[I]t is not necessary that the
inventions of the references be physically combinable to render obvious the invention
under review."); and In re Nievelt, 482 F.2d 965, 968, 179 USPQ 224, 226 (CCPA 1973)
(“Combining the teachings of references does not involve an ability to combine their
specific structures.”). In the present case, Wolf discloses a planar filter which comprises
a sheet of filter media which is pleated and embedded into the filter casing. Brimberg
discloses a method of embedding filter media into the surrounding casing. We agree with
the Examiner, Answer, p. 5, that one of ordinary skill in the art would have been
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