Appeal No. 2006-1020
Application No. 09/899,066
into the camera of Beis without incorporation of an ND
filter. Appellant has ostensibly argued that the
examiner’s combination “teaches away” and that it would
have been physically impossible given teachings of only one
filter in each reference. However, the test for
obviousness is not whether the features of a secondary
reference may be bodily incorporated into the structure of
the primary reference; nor is it that the claimed invention
must be expressly suggested in any one or all of the
references. Rather, the test is what the combined teachings
of the references would have suggested to those of ordinary
skill in the art. See In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413, 208 USPQ
871 (CCPA 1981). In this case, the autofocus lens and
control of Chino may be incorporated in the CCD camera of
Beis without inhibiting the function of the image sensors.
Furthermore, the zoom control of Chino does not require
incorporation of the particular neutral density filter.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have known that the
zoom control method of Chino could be integrated into the
light detection method of Beis while using the infrared
filter of Beis, the neutral density filter of Chino, or any
equivalent filters related to improving picture quality,
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