Appeal No. 2003-1234
Application 09/755,519
student at a lecture, where the student would use the benzene
stamp for its intended purpose of avoiding repetitive drawing of
the symbol. That is, the use of the symbol stamp in Eckels
instead of manual drawings is the normal and intended use of the
stamp and the use of the symbol stamp in Eckels for note taking
at a chemistry lecture is not a new or nonobvious use. As to the
limitation of stamping with one hand while handwriting notes with
the other, we agree with the examiner that it would have been
obvious to one skilled in the art "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) and that such
technique would occur naturally so the writer does not have to
keep changing back and forth between the stamp and the pen. The
examiner notes that Eckels teaches an example of using one hand
to perform one function (pointing to a location) while the other
hand is used to stamp the indicia.
Appellant's page of endorsements and quotes in the
declaration have been considered. Although the endorsements and
quotes are not evidence of "commercial success" because
commercial success deals with evidence of sales and taking the
place of other devices in the marketplace, they are objective
evidence of nonobviousness as evidence of professional approval.
By going to the trouble to prepare and submit such evidence,
appellant has done all he can to argue and support his case. We
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