Appeal No. 2001-1527
Application No. 08/753,265
does not support the combination of the teachings of Donohoe with
those of Bullock or Medweg, which relate to molds having center
and peripheral sections. Furthermore, while we agree with the
examiner that Bullock and Medweg teach cooling the center
sections of molds, we do not find a reason, suggestion, or
teaching in Donohoe that would invite one of ordinary skill in
the art to apply their teachings to the disclosure of forming the
annular section of the drum head membrane. While this may be a
consequence of the incidental nature of Donohoe’s teachings
regarding the molding of drum head membranes (Donohoe is
primarily concerned with teaching how to integrally bond a
preformed drum head membrane to a tensioning ring), we may not
substitute speculation for fact-finding. The rejection of claims
1–5 is reversed.
With regard to the examiner’s rejection of claims 17–19, the
examiner has relied on the theory that the selection of
temperatures and pressures would have been matters of choice that
would have “obviously been determined . . . through routine
optimization.” (Answer at 11.) The examiner asserts that the
temperature and pressure ranges recited in the claims are known
in molding processes involving polyester sheets, and that the
application of parameters within known ranges to the molding
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