Appeal No. 2006-1148
Application No. 10/382,492
turned off. In fact, for the lamp to be controlled, it must be turned on. The artisan would
have realized that in the airport environment taught by Tann, the problem with lighting being
turned off at its source would not even occur since airport lighting would not have individual
on/off switches. Accordingly, the combination would have resulted in Schwarzbach’s
lighting control and monitoring system being applied to airfield lights, as in Tann, in a
situation where one would not even need to worry about the additional concerns of
Schwarzbach vis a vis a lamp being turned off at its source.
We are also unpersuaded by appellants’ argument that the difference in power lines
between Schwarzbach and Tann would have suggested that these references are not
combinable. While Tann may teach the use of separately provided control lines, rather than
power lines for the two-way communication, it is Schwarzbach which is being relied on for
the teaching of the actual lighting control and monitoring system. Tann is only employed to
show that the skilled artisan would have employed Schwarzbach’s system in other lighting
environments, such as airfield lighting. Thus, in making the combination, the artisan clearly
would have retained Schwartbach’s control and monitoring system, whereby communication
is over power lines, rather than try to force-fit the system onto Tann’s control lines.
Appellants do not deny that Schwarzbach’s communication is via power distribution lines.
Similarly, we are not persuaded by appellants’ argument that Tann’s use of low
power for the communication lines would have taught away from communicating over power
lines, as in Schwarzbach. Again, it is Schwarzbach’s entire system of lighting control and
monitoring, including its use of power distribution lines, which is relied on for teaching the
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