Appeal No. 2004-0072 Page 8
Application No. 09/904,341
suggestion to have applied Knutson's anti-theft device to a trailer instead of a
snowmobile.
In our view, the examiner's rejections are plainly based on hindsight knowledge
derived from the appellant's own disclosure. 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 claims 1
to 3 under 35 U.S.C. § 103 is reversed.
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