Appeal No. 95-5000 Page 5
Application No. 08/021,883
In rejecting claims under 35 U.S.C. § 103, the examiner
bears the initial burden of presenting a prima facie case of
obviousness. See In re Rijckaert, 9 F.3d 1531, 1532, 28
USPQ2d 1955, 1956 (Fed. Cir. 1993). A prima facie case of
obviousness is established by presenting evidence that the
reference teachings would appear to be sufficient for one of
ordinary skill in the relevant art having the references
before him to make the proposed combination or other
modification. See In re Lintner, 9 F.2d 1013, 1016, 173 USPQ
560, 562 (CCPA 1972).
With this as background, we analyze the prior art applied
by the examiner in the rejection of the claims on appeal.
Bailey discloses a system and method for the treatment of
sewage having a step in which sewage is circulated in a riser
and a downcomer communicating with each other at their upper
and lower ends and in which an oxygen-containing gas is
supplied to the sewage as it passes through the riser and the
downcomer. The riser and downcomer are preferably located in
a shaft extending into the ground for at least 40 meters below
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