Ex parte MCPHERSON et al. - Page 5




          Appeal No. 1999-0503                                                        
          Application 08/744,207                                                      


          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., Inc. 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.               
          1992).  If that burden is met, the burden then shifts to the                
          applicant to overcome the prima facie case with argument                    
          and/or evidence.  Obviousness is then determined on the basis               
          of the evidence as a whole and the relative persuasiveness of               
          the arguments.  See Id.; In re Hedges, 783 F.2d 1038, 1039,                 
          228 USPQ 685, 686 (Fed. Cir. 1986); In re Piasecki, 745 F.2d                
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