Appeal No. 2004-1150
Application No. 09/924,490
Friction stir welding has a number of advantages, including those
listed at column 3, lines 5-16, and column 9, lines 34-49.
The test for obviousness is what the combined teachings of the
applied prior art references would have suggested to those of
ordinary skill in the art. In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413, 435, 208
USPQ 871, 881 (CCPA 1981). Applying this test, we conclude that it
would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, from a
collective assessment of the applied prior art teachings, to use
the friction stir welding technique of Thomas to form continuous
weld joints for joining together the sheets of Ellzey. In our
opinion, the reasonable suggestion for this modification comes from
Ellzey’s preference for employing a continuous weld process to join
the sheets together (column 5, lines 4-7) and from the advantages
friction stir welding provides (Thomas, column 3, lines 5-16,
column 9, lines 34-49), which advantages one of ordinary skill in
the art would have understood to be beneficial in making the
structure of Ellzey. Accordingly, we consider that the examiner
has provided evidence sufficient to establish a prima facie case of
obviousness of the subject matter of claims 1, 13 and 37.
Appellants’ arguments in opposition to the position taken by
the examiner in rejecting the claims under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) have
been considered. Concerning the argument that Ellzey requires
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