Appeal No. 2003-0017 Page 16
Application No. 09/326,996
hindsight knowledge derived from the appellant's own disclosure, not the teachings of
the applied prior art. The use of such hindsight knowledge to support an obviousness
rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 103 is, of course, impermissible. See, for example, W. L.
Gore and Assocs., Inc. v. Garlock, Inc., 721 F.2d 1540, 1553, 220 USPQ 303, 312-13
(Fed. Cir. 1983), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 851 (1984).
For the reasons set forth above, the decision of the examiner to reject claim 13,
and claims 14 and 15 dependent thereon, under 35 U.S.C. § 103 is reversed.
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