Opinion ID: 218033
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Onishi

Text: Regarding Onishi, MemsTech argues that, although Onishi does not disclose an aperture as claim 1 requires, the addition of an aperture to the device depicted in Onishi’s Figure 1 would have been an obvious modification. MemsTech also argues that the Commission erred because Onishi does not teach away from including an aperture and does not teach a transducer mounted on a substrate. MemsTech contends that the Commission failed to recognize the ability of a person of ordinary skill to modify Onishi to arrive at the invention claimed in the ’089 patent. Finally, MemsTech contends that dependent claims 2, 9, 15, 17, 20, 28, and 29 add no limitations that render these claims patentable over Onishi. The Commission and Knowles argue that substantial evidence supports the Commission’s findings regarding the differences between the device taught in Onishi and the invention claimed in the ’089 patent. They also argue that substantial evidence supports the Commission’s finding that Onishi teaches away from the claimed invention. They further contend that expert testimony indicates that one of ordinary skill would not have modified Onishi to make the invention claimed in the ’089 patent. Again, we agree with the Commission and Knowles. As its title indicates, Onishi discloses a “Surface Acoustic Wave Device” (“SAW device”), not a MEMS microphone package. Knowles’ expert testified that a SAW device is designed to detect surface vibrations, not sound waves. J.A. 1147-48. Onishi does not contain a “transducer being 29 MEMS TECH v. ITC responsive to sound pressure levels of an acoustic signal,” as claim 1 requires, and the expert testimony indicates that modifying the Onishi device to incorporate such a microphone would cause “serious problems.” J.A. 2476. Expert testimony also supports the finding that SAW devices do not contain acoustic ports because external sound waves are unwanted “‘noise’ that must be filtered out.” J.A. 1148. Consistent with this testimony, Onishi expressly teaches away from creating an aperture, as the Commission correctly found. See In re Gurley, 27 F.3d 551, 553 (Fed. Cir. 1994) (“A reference may be said to teach away when a person of ordinary skill, upon reading the reference, would be discouraged from following the path set out in the reference, or would be led in a direction divergent from the path that was taken by the applicant.”). Throughout the specification Onishi describes its SAW device as “sealed in an airtight condition,” thus teaching away from incorporating an aperture. MemsTech failed to provide clear and convincing evidence that one of ordinary skill would have modified Onishi to arrive at the invention in claim 1 of the ’089 patent. Moreover, because claim 1 was nonobvious over Onishi, so too were claims 2, 9, 15, 17, 20, 28, and 29, which depend from claim 1. See Hartness, 819 F.2d at 1108. Thus, the Commission did not err in determining that these claims were nonobvious over Onishi.