Appeal No. 97-1883
Application 08/254,973
THE REJECTION
Claims 1, 2, 4, and 7-10 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C.
§ 103 as being unpatentable over Howlett.
Rather than reiterate the entire arguments of the appellant
and the examiner in support of their respective positions,
reference is made to the appellant's brief (Paper No. 9) and
reply brief (Paper No. 12) and the examiner’s answer (Paper No.
10) for the full exposition thereof.
OPINION
In reaching our conclusions on the issues raised in this
appeal, we have carefully considered appellant's specification
and claims, the applied reference, and the respective viewpoints
advanced by the appellant and the examiner. As a consequence of
our review, we have made the determination that the rejection of
the examiner should not be sustained.
We initially note that a rejection based on 35 U.S.C.
§ 103 must rest on a factual basis, with the facts being
interpreted without hindsight reconstruction of the invention
from the prior art. In making this evaluation, the examiner has
initial burden of supplying the factual basis for the rejection.
To meet this burden, the examiner must establish why one of
ordinary skill in the art would have been led to the claimed
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