Appeal No. 2006-1795 6
Application No. 10/269,057
Here, although we agree that Kreager is capable of being modified to use the flat
sealing area 42 and grooves 44 of Voller, we find no motivation for person skilled in the
art to have made this combination absent the teaching of the present invention. Kreager
is directed to solving the problem of sealing bags by a method other than conventional
heat sealing methods to overcome the disadvantages of conventional methods, viz,
expense of materials, slower rate of sealing due to heat transfer issues, and high rate of
failure of seals produced using conventional heat sealing methods. Kreager solves these
problems by using an ultrasonic sealing apparatus and method. Voller, on the other hand,
is directed to a method of sealing two sheets of flexible plastic material using radio
frequency energy that avoids the problem of extrusion of material between the sheets
adjacent the sealed area that causes the seal or the areas adjacent the seal to become
thinner than the gauge of a single sheet of plastic. We see no motivation to combine
Kreager, which is specifically directed to an ultrasonic sealing apparatus and which
teaches away from using conventional heat sealing methods, with Voller, which is
directed to a conventional heat sealing method, to solve the problem that confronted the
inventor. Moreover, we agree with the appellants that there would have been no
motivation to replace the land areas 38, 40 of the ultrasonic sealing apparatus of Kreager
with the grooves 44 and the flat surface 42 of Voller, because there would have been no
advantage to making the seals in Kreager larger and thus stronger. Rather, the narrow
seals formed by the land areas 38, 40 in Kreager were suited for the purpose of sealing
flexible bags of chips, etc.
As such, we find that the examiner has failed to set forth a prima facie case of
obviousness. From our perspective, the Examiner's rejections appear to be premised on
impermissible hindsight reasoning. On the record of this appeal, it is our view that the
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