Ex parte SUMIKAWA - Page 4




          Appeal No. 96-1842                                                          
          Application 08/193,356                                                      


          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                      
          determinations set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S.              
          1, 17, 148 USPQ 459, 467 (CCPA 1966), and to provide a reason               
          why one having ordinary skill in the pertinent art would have               
          been led to modify the prior art or to combine prior art                    
          references to arrive at the claimed invention.  Such reason                 
          must stem from some teaching, suggestion or implication in the              
          prior art as a whole or knowledge generally available to one                
          having ordinary skill in the art.  Uniroyal, Inc. v. Rudkin-                
          Wiley Corp., 837 F.2d 1044, 1051, 5 USPQ2d 1434, 1438 (Fed.                 
          Cir.), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 825 (1988); Ashland Oil, Inc. v.              
          Delta Resins & Refractories, Inc., 776 F.2d 281, 293, 227 USPQ              
          657, 664 (Fed. Cir. 1985), cert. denied, 475 U.S. 1017 (1986);              
          ACS Hosp. Sys. v. Montefiore Hosp., 732 F.2d 1572, 1577, 221                
          USPQ 929, 933 (Fed. Cir. 1984).  These showings by the                      
          examiner are an essential part of complying with the burden of              
          presenting a prima facie case of obviousness.  Note In re                   
          Oetiker, 977 F.2d 1443, 1445, 24 USPQ2d 1443, 1444 (Fed. Cir.               
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