Appeal No. 2000-1922
Application No. 08/806,494
bearing assembly to enhance lubricant and contaminant retention.
In the Examiner’s analysis (id.):
one of ordinary skill in the art would have been
motivated to provide the retention disc flange
as taught by Yasui ... to the retention disc of
Krum ... in order to enhance lubricant and
contaminant (i.e., leaking lubricant) retention
while minimizing the infiltration of foreign
matter into the bearing assembly, as contrasted
with a retention disc without the flange, as
explicitly suggested by Yasui....
After reviewing the arguments of record from both
Appellants and the Examiner, we are in general agreement with
Appellants’ position as stated in the Brief. In particular, we
agree with Appellants (Brief, page 13) that the Krum reference,
when considered in its entirety, teaches away from the
Examiner’s proposed combination. A prior art reference must be
considered in its entirety, i.e., as a whole, including portions
that would lead away from the claimed invention. See W.L. Gore
& Associates, Inc. v. Garlock, Inc., 721 F.2d 1540, 1548, 220
USPQ 303, 311 (Fed. Cir. 1983), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 851
(1984).
In discussing the top portion of the bearing assembly which
includes the washer seal retention disc 90, Krum minimizes the
concern with leakage of bearing lubricant. As stated at column
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