Appeal No. 2004-0157 Page 5
Application No. 09/706,771
other, there are several reasons why we are of the view that one of ordinary skill in the
art would not have been motivated to install them in the Ando suspension system in the
manner proposed by the examiner. First, the Edahiro bushings are disclosed in the
context of a non-steerable rear suspension and are vertically oriented, and no evidence
has been adduced by the examiner that would have suggested to the artisan that these
bushings would or could be oriented horizontally and utilized in a steerable front wheel
assembly. Second, Edahiro discloses two bushings in which the chambers are
oriented perpendicularly to one another, which results in damping the suspension in
both the vertical and the horizontal directions, but provides no suggestion as to which
way only one of them should be arranged if installed horizontally, as would be
necessary if placed in the Ando system. The examiner has, nevertheless, chosen to
orient the single bushing to be placed in Ando in the direction required by the
appellants’ claims, which could only be the result of the hindsight afforded one who first
viewed the appellants’ disclosure. Third, since Edahiro is not attempting to solve the
same problem as that to which the appellants’ invention is directed, there is no
evidence to support the conclusion that replacing the Ando solid bushing with the
chambered bushing of Edahiro would solve any problem in the new environment, much
less a vibration problem, and or would inherently solve the problem to which the
appellants’ invention is directed.
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