Ex parte MOORE - Page 4




          Appeal No. 96-1874                                                          
          Application 08/215,467                                                      



          OPINION                                                                     
          We have carefully considered the subject matter on                          
          appeal, the rejection advanced by the examiner and the                      
          evidence of obviousness relied upon by the examiner as support              
          for the rejection.  We have, likewise, reviewed and taken into              
          consideration, in reaching our decision, the appellant’s                    


          arguments set forth in the brief along with the examiner’s                  
          rationale in support of the rejection and arguments in                      
          rebuttal set forth in the examiner’s answer.                                
          It is our view, after consideration of the record                           
          before us, that the examiner has failed to provide a record                 
          which supports the obviousness of the invention as set forth                
          in claims 1 and 2.  Accordingly, we reverse.                                
          In rejecting claims under 35 U.S.C. § 103, it is                            
          incumbent upon the examiner to establish a factual basis to                 
          support the legal conclusion of obviousness.  See In re Fine,               
          837 F.2d 1071, 1073, 5 USPQ2d 1596, 1598 (Fed. Cir. 1988).  In              
          so doing, the examiner is expected to make the factual deter-               
          minations set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1,                

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