Appeal No. 2003-1234
Application 09/755,519
does not teach a benzene ring stamp, but concludes that it would
have been obvious "to use any desired stamp design that pertains
to any desired topic of lectures in which the student attends, as
it involves simply an obvious matter of design choice" (FR3).
The examiner finds that Eckels teaches that the use of a stamp of
a benzene ring for repeatedly stamping the symbol was well known
in the art. "Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of
ordinary skill in the art for a student in a chemistry class to
use a chemical stamp as claimed to facilitate taking notes."
(FR3.) The examiner finds that although Bissonet is silent with
respect to holding the stamp in one hand while holding a writing
instrument in the other, Eckels teaches using one hand to perform
one function (pointing to a location) while the other hand is
used to stamp the indicia and concludes that it would have been
obvious "to use the hand stamp in one hand while taking notes
with the other hand to more quickly and efficiently record notes
from the lecture" (FR3).
Appellant filed a declaration of commercial success under
35 U.S.C. § 132 (attachment to Paper No. 4), which contains
sample notes using the stamp, and a page of endorsements and
quotes from professors, teachers, and students. The examiner
found the declaration to be unpersuasive because: (1) the
evidence is opinion evidence and lacks factual support, citing
In re Beattie, 974 F.2d 1309, 24 USPQ2d 1040 (Fed. Cir. 1992),
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