Appeal No. 97-1149
Application No. 08/237,537
The subject matter before us on appeal is illustrated by
reference to claim 1, which has been reproduced in an appendix to
the appellants’ Brief on Appeal.
THE REFERENCE
The reference relied upon by the examiner to support the
final rejection is:
Betki et al. (Betki) 5,237,975 Aug. 24, 1993
THE REJECTION
Claims 1-8 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being
unpatentable over Betki.
The statement of the rejection is found in Paper No. 3 (the
first office action), while the explanation of the rejection is
found in the Paper No. 15 (the Examiner’s Answer).
The opposing viewpoints of the appellants are set forth in
the Brief and the Reply Brief.
OPINION
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
2
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