Appeal No. 2006-2842 Page 4
Application No. 09/773,054
there is no disclosure or suggestion in Garcia that the replacement service module has a
different service function than the replaced module. It would appear that they are similar
modules but, in any event, it would be speculation to conclude that the replacement
module has a service function any different from the service function of the replaced
service module and the examiner has pointed to nothing in Garcia to convince us
otherwise.
In fact, the examiner appears to focus on the wipers 234 and cap 236, shown in
Garcia’s Figure 23, for example, and uses this exploded isometric view of a service
station module to conclude that the wipers 234 and cap 236 are removably installable.
We are a bit confused as to why the examiner thinks that wipers 234 and/or cap 236
constitute a “service station module,” but, in any event, we agree with appellants that
even if we were to interpret these elements as a “service station module,” they are not
described in Garcia as being “removably installable.” The fastener holding the cap 236 is
not necessarily removable after assembly because, as appellants point out, it may be a
rivet. Wipers 234 may, in fact, be attached to the service station module 230 by an
adhesive and not be removable. Garcia is not clear on this, and while it might have been
obvious, in some sense, to attach the cap with a screw, or to attach wipers 234 with no
adhesive, the rejection of claims 9, 21, and 34-44 is under 35 U.S.C. § 102(e), so all of
the elements must be taught by the reference. As far as Garcia’s Figure 23 is concerned,
this is an exploded view and certainly does not, in any way, show separately removable
components, absent some description in the specification that any such components are
“removably installed,” either by an explicit disclosure of such or, implicitly, by the
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