Appeal No. 2002-0617
Application 08/942,743
claims are rejected, therefore we find that these claims do not
state a ground of rejection that can be reviewed. The rejection
of claims 19 through 24, 26 through 36, 38 and 39 are reversed.
With full consideration being given to the subject matter
on appeal, the Examiner’s rejections and arguments of Appellants
and the Examiner, for the reasons stated infra, we reverse the
Examiner’s rejection of claims 1, 3 through 8, 10 through 18, 25,
37 and 40 through 46 under 35 U.S.C. § 103.
We first will address the rejection of claims 1, 3, 4, 10
through 16, 18, 25, 37 and 41 through 46 under 35 U.S.C. § 103.
In rejecting claims under 35 U.S.C. § 103, the Examiner
bears the initial burden of establishing a prima facie case of
obviousness. In re Oetiker, 977 F.2d 1443, 1445, 24 USPQ 1443,
1444 (Fed. Cir. 1992). See also In re Piasecki, 745 F.2d 1468,
1472, 223 USPQ 785, 788 (Fed. Cir. 1984). The Examiner can
satisfy this burden by showing that some objective teaching in
the prior art or knowledge generally available to one of ordinary
skill in the art suggests the claimed subject matter. In re
Fine, 837, F.2d 1071, 1074, 5 USPQ2d 1596, 1598 (Fed. Cir. 1988).
Only if this initial burden is met does the burden of coming
6
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007