Appeal No. 2002-0230
Application No. 09/136,070
location at the bottom-most surface of the reagent container ensures that the entire
reagent is removed, providing a more cost-effective dispensing means.” Id.
It is the position of the majority that “the motivation relied upon by the
Examiner for moving the location of the connection hole comes from the Appellants’
description of their invention in the specification, pages 16-18, rather than coming
from the applied prior art and that, therefore, the Examiner used impermissible
hindsight in rejecting the claims.” Slip Op., page 6. I agree with the examiner,
however, that her motivation rationale and consequent obviousness conclusion are not
based on hindsight “but rather basic scientific principles of fluid dynamics and
gravitation forces.” Answer, page 6. In this regard, it is the examiner’s express
finding that “[i]t is notoriously well known within the dispensing art that such a
location of a fluid connection hole at the lowest point on the container takes
advantage of the additional effects of gravity upon the volume of the fluid.” Id., at
pages 6-7. Particularly in light of this finding, the examiner concludes that “[o]ne
skilled in the art would have recognized that modifying the location of a connection
hole of Rokugawa would allow the fluid to be discharged with less pressure being
applied, thereby increasing the overall efficiency of the pump with no additional
working parts needed.” Id., at page 7.
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