Appeal No. 2003-0646
Application No. 09/250,154
REJECTIONS AT ISSUE
Claims 4 through 6 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as
being unpatentable over Burns and Chase. Claim 7 stands rejected
under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Burns and Chase as
applied to claims 4 through 6 above, further in view of Takase.
Throughout the opinion, we make references to the Brief and
the Answer for the respective details thereof.1
OPINION
With full consideration being given the subject matter on
appeal, the Examiner’s rejections and the arguments of Appellants
and the Examiner, for the reasons stated infra, we reverse the
Examiner’s rejection of claims 4 through 7 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 USPQ2d 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
1 Appellants filed a Brief on July 30, 2002. Appellants filed a
Reply Brief on December 24, 2002. The Examiner mailed out an
office communication on January 8, 2003 stating that the Reply
Brief has been entered.
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