Appeal No. 2006-1644
Application No. 10/666,924
piston (figure 1), a cam (19) rotatably mounted in the cam
housing and driven by the crankshaft at less than the full speed
of the crankshaft (page 4, third paragraph), and a valve
cover (15) on the cylinder head defining a valve chamber. The
engine is simple and compact (page 7, third full paragraph).
Kovacs discloses a four stroke engine suitable for uses
including chain saws (page 2).
The appellants argue that one of ordinary skill in the art
would not have been motivated to combine the teachings of Kovacs
and Takada because the combination would eliminate required
features of one or both of the references (brief, page 5; reply
brief, pages 2-4). The appellants argue that 1) Kovacs requires
that the inlet and outlet valves are in the cylinder head,
whereas Takada requires that those valves are above the cylinder
head (brief, pages 5-6; reply brief, pages 3-4), 2) there is no
need to combine Takada and Kovacs because Kovacs already has a
lubrication system and, therefore, does not need Takada’s
lubrication system (brief, pages 8-9), and 3) even if Kovacs
required a lubrication system, there is no teaching as to how
Takada’s lubrication system would be used in Kovacs’ engine
(brief, page 9). The appellants’ arguments are directed toward
motivation to bodily incorporate the features of the references.
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