Appeal No. 1998-1798 Page 11
Application No. 08/596,538
the tape drive;" and (2) claim 17 recites that the motor
"moves in the substantially linear direction with the tape
cartridge."
With regard to these differences, the examiner determined
(answer, p. 4) that to have arranged Ohkubo base member 24 to
move in a linear direction (rather than pivoting about shaft
36) would have been an obvious matter of design choice to a
person having ordinary skill in the art.
The appellant argues (brief, pp. 8-14 and reply brief,
pp. 5-8) that the examiner has not presented a prima facie
case of obviousness. We agree. It is our opinion that the
examiner has not proffered a sufficient factual basis to
support his conclusion of obviousness. In that regard, we
note that the examiner has not presented any evidence that it
was known in the tape drive art (or any analogous art) to
either (1) arrange the drive motor support plate to move in a
linear direction parallel to a direction of insertion of a
tape cartridge in the tape drive as recited in claim 1, or (2)
arrange the motor to move in a substantially linear direction
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