Appeal No. 2005-2545
Application No. 10/447,582
suggestive of tailoring the system for use with other known
specimen carriers. The suggested adaptation of the Boje system
to accommodate Besemer’s probe arrays, substrates and housings
would, of course, involve the use of a scanner, carrier,
transporter as broadly recited in claims 32, 41, 42 and 49. In
this regard, it should be noted that the carriers or racks 46
disclosed by Boje hold multiple specimens, have first ends and
open second or top ends, and include a plurality of slots
configured to receive the specimens in a vertical, spaced apart
orientation.
Thus, the combined teachings of Boje and Besemer justify the
examiner’s conclusion that the differences between the subject
matter recited in independent claims 32, 41, 42 and 49 and the
prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have
been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person
having ordinary skill in the art. Accordingly, we shall sustain
the standing 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) rejection of claims 32, 41, 42
and 49 as being unpatentable over Boje in view of Besemer.
We also shall sustain the standing 35 U.S.C. § 103(a)
rejection of dependent claims 35-40 and 45-48 as being
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