Appeal No. 2002-1035 Page 7
Application No. 09/333,166
embedded within3 the handle 10 conveys an indication that the blade 11 is molded
within the handle 10 rather than press-fitted or driven thereinto. Thus, it is not apparent
to us why the formation of the handle end of the blade 11 would have provided any
suggestion to one of ordinary skill in the art with regard to the formation of the tip
member 12, which is to be driven into the working end of the blade 11, not molded
therein. In any event, we find nothing in the teachings of Rosenburg or Kruesi which
would have led one of ordinary skill in the art to apply the teachings with regard to the
handle end of the blade to the tip member of Rosenburg’s screw driver.
Kruesi’s self-insulating composite tool is made by braiding reinforcing filaments F
forming the tool shank 16 about the outer periphery of a mandrel 12 and the outer
periphery of the tip shank 14B of a metal tip 14 followed by impregnation of the fibers
with resin R and compression molding. The tip shank 14B has a polygonal profile.
While Kruesi’s tip shank could perhaps be formed with flutes having a substantial
depth, we find nothing in either Kruesi or Rosenburg which would have suggested such
a profile.4 The mere fact that the prior art could be so modified would not have made
the modification obvious unless the prior art suggested the desirability of the
modification. See In re Mills, 916 F.2d 680, 682, 16 USPQ2d 1430, 1432 (Fed. Cir.
1990); In re Gordon, 733 F.2d 900, 902, 221 USPQ 1125, 1127 (Fed. Cir. 1984).
3 The protrusions do not appear to extend longitudinally to the end of the handle.
4 In fact, such a profile would appear to render more difficult the step of braiding the filaments F
forming the tool shank 16 about the tip shank 14B as disclosed by Kruesi.
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