Appeal No. 2002-0067 Page 6
Application No. 08/721,921
obvious." Id. at 1266, 23 USPQ2d at 1784 (citing In re Gorman, 933 F.2d 982, 987, 18
USPQ2d 1885, 1888 (Fed. Cir. 1991)).
Furthermore, "the factual inquiry whether to combine references must be
thorough and searching." McGinley v. Franklin Sports, Inc., 262 F.3d 1339, 1351-52,
60 USPQ2d 1001, 1008 (Fed. Cir. 2001). This factual question cannot "be resolved on
subjective belief and unknown authority," In re Lee, 277 F.3d 1338, 1343-44, 61
USPQ2d 1430, 1434 (Fed. Cir. 2002); "[i]t must be based on objective evidence of
record." Id. at 1343, 61 USPQ2d at 1434. Although couched concerning combining
references, we hold the same requirements apply to modifying references. Namely, the
factual inquiry whether to modify references must be thorough and searching. The
inquiry cannot be resolved on subjective belief and unknown authority; it must be based
on objective evidence of record.
Here, Na discloses "a circuit for . . . identifying the continuity of an inter facility
link (IFL) using a low frequency signal. . . ." Col. 1, ll. 11-15. The IFL connects "an
indoor unit 100," col. 3, l. 23, with "[a]n outdoor unit 300. . . ." Id. at l. 50. The
reference's circuit detects a malfunction of the IFL at its indoor unit. More specifically,
"[t]he low-frequency signal transmitted from the indoor unit is fed back from the outdoor
unit to the indoor unit via the RX cable, to then detected [sic]. Thus, the presence or
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