Appeal No. 1995-3903 Page 7
Application No. 08/062,737
complement its disclosure. In re Bode, 550 F.2d 656, 660, 193
USPQ 12, 16 (CCPA 1977). Persons skilled in the art,
moreover, must be presumed to know something about the art
apart from what the references disclose. In re Jacoby, 309
F.2d 513, 516, 135 USPQ 317, 319 (CCPA 1962). Our opinion
considers the obviousness of claims 37, 43, and 44 and of
claims 38-42 and 45-47 seriatim.
In rejecting claims under 35 U.S.C. § 103, the patent
examiner bears the initial burden of establishing a prima
facie case of obviousness. A prima facie case is established
when the teachings from the prior art itself would appear to
have suggested the claimed subject matter to a person of
ordinary skill in the art. If the examiner fails to
establish a prima facie case, an obviousness rejection is
improper and will be overturned. In re Rijckaert, 9 F.3d
1531, 1532, 28 USPQ2d 1955, 1956 (Fed. Cir. 1993). With this
in mind, we address the appellants’ arguments.
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