Appeal No. 2002-2074
Application No. 09/494,965
The mere existence of functional and mechanical equivalence,
however, does not establish obviousness. Expedients which are
functionally equivalent to each other are not necessarily obvious
in view of one another. In re Scott, 323 F.2d 1016, 1019, 139
USPQ 297, 299 (CCPA 1963). Although the devices disclosed by
Garrett and Wood are both projectile launchers in a general
sense, in reality they constitute distinctly different
apparatuses serving distinctly different purposes. As pointed
out by the appellants (see pages 3 and 4 in the reply brief), the
pneumatic propulsion system disclosed by Wood is relatively
complex and bulky as compared to the cartridge propulsion system
disclosed by Garrett, and seemingly would be ill suited for the
battlefield environment in which the Garrett grenade launcher is
intended to be used. Considered in this light, the two systems
would not appear to be functional or mechanical equivalents; but
even if they were, the ostensible unsuitability of a pneumatic
system as disclosed by Wood for use in a grenade launcher as
disclosed by Garrett would have discouraged the substitution
proposed by the examiner. It follows that the only suggestion
for combining the two references so as to arrive at the subject
matter recited in claims 1, 54, 62 and 63 stems from hindsight
knowledge impermissibly derived from the appellants’ disclosure.
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