Appeal No. 2003-0811 Page 5
Application No. 09/285,290
whereby GPS position information and linear-movement travel distance information
therefrom respectively are utilized to cause the position control subsystem to activate
the hopper door actuators to open the hopper doors at the beginning of the selected
section of the railroad and to retain same along the selected section with the railroad
car in motion and only for such a duration in which the GPS receiver detects a location
of the car corresponding to the selected section of the railroad.
A critical step in analyzing the patentability of claims pursuant to 35 U.S.C.
§ 103 is casting the mind back to the time of invention, to consider the thinking of one
of ordinary skill in the art, guided only by the prior art references and the then-accepted
wisdom in the field. See In re Dembiczak, 175 F.3d 994, 999, 50 USPQ2d 1614, 1617
(Fed. Cir. 1999). Close adherence to this methodology is especially important in cases
where the very ease with which the invention can be understood may prompt one "to
fall victim to the insidious effect of a hindsight syndrome wherein that which only the
invention taught is used against its teacher." Id. (quoting W.L. Gore & Assocs., Inc. v.
Garlock, Inc., 721 F.2d 1540, 1553, 220 USPQ 303, 313 (Fed. Cir. 1983), cert. denied,
469 U.S. 851 (1984)).
Most if not all inventions arise from a combination of old elements. See In re
Rouffet, 149 F.3d 1350, 1357, 47 USPQ2d 1453, 1457 (Fed. Cir. 1998). Thus, every
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