Appeal No. 95-4314 Page 4
Application No. 07/963,524
THE REJECTION
Claims 12-20 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being
unpatentable over Coulson in view of Cope.
Rather than reiterate the conflicting viewpoints advanced
by the examiner and the appellants regarding the above-noted
rejection, we make reference to the examiner's answer for the
examiner's reasoning in support of the rejection, and to the
appellants' brief including the copy of the Gehin declaration
accompanying the brief for the appellants' countervailing
arguments.
OPINION
We have carefully considered the respective positions
advanced by the appellants and the examiner. For the reasons
set forth below, we will not sustain the rejection.
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). Furthermore, the conclusion that
the claimed subject matter is prima facie obvious must be
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