Appeal No. 2001-1527 Application No. 08/753,265 53 USPQ2d 1580, 1586-87 (Fed. Cir. 2000) (citations and footnote omitted). With regard to claims 1 through 5, we have found that Donohoe teaches that the outer annular region of a drum head membranes may be formed by applying heat and pressure to the membrane. Specifically, Donohoe states that “drum head membrane 11 is made from a circular disk that has an outer annular region thereof formed by the simultaneous application of heat and pressure (thermo-forming) into a curved transverse cross section.” (Donohoe at col. 5, ll. 48–52.) We do not find in this statement any teaching that the drum head membrane as a whole is thermoformed. Moreover, the examiner has not directed our attention to such a teaching in the art relied on as evidence of obviousness. Although we disagree with the examiner’s statement that Donohoe does not teach the use of a mold, we agree with the examiner that Donohoe does not teach a mold having peripheral and center sections. The mold used to thermoform the outer annular section of Donohoe’s drum head membranes might itself have an annular cross section: it need not also mold the center section of the membrane, and hence there need not be a section of the mold that is reasonably characterized as the “center section.” Accordingly, we find that substantial evidence - 10 -Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 NextLast modified: November 3, 2007