Appeal 2007-0561
Application 10/689,465
1 proper for consideration if it is reasonably pertinent to the particular problem with
2 which the applicant for patent is involved. In re Deminski, 796 F.2d at 442, 230
3 USPQ at 315.
4 While the ground plug of Meinhardt is not integral to the bushing, that does
5 not detract from or undermine Meinhardt’s teaching that the set screw penetrates
6 the trough from a side wall and does not render Meinhardt impertinent. While the
7 grounding wire in Churla is received in a perpendicular orientation relative to the
8 axis of the grounding member, that does not detract from or undermine its teaching
9 about the orientation of the set screw or about a trough which is integral with the
10 grounding clamp. Neither does the fact that Churla is not concerned with the
11 problem of orienting the grounding clamp with respect to the screws joining the
12 separate portions of the clamp together detract from or undermine its teaching
13 about the orientation and positioning of the set screw. The notion that the presence
14 of any different feature or objective in a prior art reference renders the prior art
15 reference inapplicable as a teaching source as to another disclosed feature is
16 wrong, defies logic and common sense, and has no basis in law.
17 The applicants argue that because the clamping member of Meinhardt and
18 Reichman is nonintegral, movable, and also detachable from a monolithic bushing
19 and because the clamping member of Mooney is integral and fixed in orientation,
20 one with ordinary skill in the art could not combine the teachings of the three
21 references. The argument is without merit. The teachings have not been used in
22 an inconsistent manner as in requiring the clamping member to be both fixed and
23 detachable from a bushing, or both fixed and rotatable relative to a bushing, or
24 both integral and nonintegral at the same time. All the teachings of each prior art
25 reference are available to one with ordinary skill in the art, as far as they can be put
26 together by reliance on logic and common sense. See, e.g., DyStar Textilfarben
12
Page: Previous 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Next
Last modified: September 9, 2013