Ex Parte Rolph - Page 5

           Appeal 2006-1400                                                                          
           Application 10/649,128                                                                    

                 Finally, Kumasaka shows a conventional luau or tiki lamp with a metal               
           snuffer or cap 40 attached to the tiki pole by a chain tether.  Kumasaka does not         
           disclose a cover for the entire tiki lamp.                                                

                                          PRINCIPLES OF LAW                                          
                 “Section 103 forbids issuance of a patent when ‘the differences between the         
           subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject          
           matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a         
           person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains.’” KSR      
           Int'l Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 127 S. Ct. 1727, 1734, 82 USPQ2d 1385, 1391 (2007).           
           The question of obviousness is resolved on the basis of underlying factual                
           determinations including (1) the scope and content of the prior art, (2) any              
           differences between the claimed subject matter and the prior art, (3) the level of        
           skill in the art, and (4) where in evidence, so-called secondary considerations.          
           Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 17-18, 148 USPQ 459, 467 (1966).  See               
           also KSR, 127 S.Ct. at 1734, 82 USPQ2d at 1391 (“While the sequence of these              
           questions might be reordered in any particular case, the [Graham] factors continue        
           to define the inquiry that controls.”)  In KSR, the Supreme Court emphasized “the         
           need for caution in granting a patent based on the combination of elements found          
           in the prior art,” id. at 1739, 82 USPQ2d at 1395, and discussed circumstances in         
           which a patent might be determined to be obvious.  In particular, the Supreme             
           Court emphasized that “the principles laid down in Graham reaffirmed the                  
           ‘functional approach’ of Hotchkiss, 11 How. 248.” KSR, 127 S.Ct. at 1739, 82              
           USPQ2d at 1395 (citing Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 12 (1966)                    
           (emphasis added)), and reaffirmed principles based on its precedent that “[t]he           
           combination of familiar elements according to known methods is likely to be               

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