Appeal No. 2003-1825 Page 6
Application No. 09/672,492
nor Martel is directed to steadying a handgun and that the
examiner’s proposed combination of such alleged non-analogous
references so as to evince the obviousness of using metal
material for the coupling device of Brookhyser is based on
impermissible hindsight reconstruction of appellant’s invention.
We do not find those arguments persuasive on this record.
As tacitly acknowledged by appellant at pages 2-4 of the brief,
the appealed claims before us require a narrowing amendment to
render the claim 1 preamble concerning a handgun utility for the
coupling more than just an intended use of the now claimed
coupling.2 Moreover, the test of whether a reference is from an
analogous art is first, whether it is within the field of the
inventor's endeavor, and second, if it is not, whether it is
reasonably pertinent to the particular problem with which the
inventor was involved. See In re Wood, 599 F.2d 1032, 1036, 202
USPQ 171, 174 (CCPA 1979). A reference is reasonably pertinent
if, even though it may be in a different field of endeavor, it is
one which, because of the matter with which it deals, logically
would have commended itself to an inventor’s attention in
2 We note that the examiner’s decision to deny entry of
appellant’s proposed amendment is not a matter within our
jurisdiction to review.
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