Appeal No. 2004-2354
Application No. 09/923,991 Page 14
thereto. Consequently, on this record, we will sustain the
examiner’s § 103(a) rejection of claim 22.
§ 103(a) Rejection of claim 24 over Jordan and Weller
In addition to the features of claim 1, claim 24 specifies
that the enclosure includes a layer of foam connected to a
pressurized air source. Recognizing that Jordan does not
describe such an additional pressurized air source connected foam
layer, the examiner turns to Weller for allegedly suggesting such
a feature. The difficulty we have with the examiner’s position
in attempting to combine the teachings of Weller and Jordan is
that Weller is drawn to a side impact protection apparatus. In
this regard, the examiner has not fairly explained why one of
ordinary skill in the art would have been led to modify the
resilient shock-absorbing bumper of Jordan that includes liquid
and foam inside the bumper with a pressurized air source
connected foam layer of Weller that is designed for use in a side
impact device, particularly for mounting on an inner door panel
rather than on a bumper. The examiner’s position that one of
ordinary skill in the art at the time of appellant’s invention
would have further provided another layer of foam connected to a
pressurized air source together with the liquid saturated foam of
Jordan in the bumper mounted enclosure of Jordan based on
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