Appeal No. 96-3092
Application 08/307,498
sustain the rejection of the claims under 35 U.S.C. § 112.
We now consider the rejection of claims 14-30 under
35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over the teachings of
Koht in view of D’Auria or Cannon. 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 determinations set forth in
Graham v. John Deere Co.,
383 U.S. 1, 17, 148 USPQ 459, 467 (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.
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