Appeal No. 2005-1539 8
Application No. 09/799,275
obvious to modify the plate of Latour to be used in combination with the grease diverter
(2) of Stanek for the desirable purpose of preventing all grease drippings from falling
onto the burner unit of a grill.
Absent hindsight, we see no teaching, suggestion or motivation in the applied
prior art references that would have led one of ordinary skill in the art to dismantle the
multi-part grilling structure seen in Stanek and then attempt in some way to combine
only the lower grill member (2) thereof with the flare reduction buffer of Barker or the
grill insert of Latour. In that regard, we note, as our court of review indicated in In re
Fritch, 972 F.2d 1260, 1266, 23 USPQ2d 1780, 1784 (Fed. Cir. 1992), that it is
impermissible to use the claimed invention as an instruction manual or "template" in
attempting to piece together isolated disclosures and teachings of the prior art so that
the claimed invention is rendered obvious. Moreover, we observe that the examiner
has provided no explanation as to exactly how, even if combined in the manner
asserted, the lower collecting grill structure (2) of Stanek would cooperate with either of
the structures seen in Barker or Latour to prevent all grease drippings from falling onto
the burner unit of the grill.
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