Appeal No. 2006-0022 Παγε 4
Application No. 09/810,943
The motivation, suggestion or teaching may come explicitly from statements in
the prior art, the knowledge of one of ordinary skill in the art, or, in some cases the
nature of the problem to be solved. See In re Dembiczak, 175 F.3d 994, 999, 50
USPQ2d 1614, 1617 (Fed. Cir. 1999). In addition, the teaching, motivation or
suggestion may be implicit from the prior art as a whole, rather than expressly stated in
the references. See WMS Gaming, Inc. v. International Game Tech., 184 F.3d 1339,
1355, 51 USPQ2d 1385, 1397 (Fed. Cir. 1999). The test for an implicit showing is what
the combined teachings, knowledge of one of ordinary skill in the art, and the nature of
the problem to be solved as a whole would have suggested to those of ordinary skill in
the art. See In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413, 425, 208 USPQ 871, 881 (CCPA 1981) (and
cases cited therein).
With this as background, we analyze the prior art applied by the examiner in the
rejection of the claims on appeal.
Research Disclosure
Research Disclosure is directed to weight sensing for an occupant resistant
system utilizing load cell technologies. Vehicle occupant weight information can be
used to tailor the deployment characteristics of an airbag or other restraint device. The
weight information can be used to switch airbags completely off for empty seats or
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