Ex Parte Tehrani - Page 9



          Appeal No. 2006-1435                                   Page 9               
          Application No. 10/352,299                                                  
          We now consider the various rejections of the claims                        
          under 35 U.S.C. § 103.  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. 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            





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