Ex parte HIGUCHI et al. - Page 5




          Appeal No. 1996-2195                                                        
          Application 08/120,911                                                      



                                       OPINION                                        
                    We will not sustain the rejection of claims 39                    
          through 44, 46 through 51, 53 through 74 and 78 under 35                    
          U.S.C. § 103.                                                               
                    The Examiner has failed to set forth a prima facie                
          case.  It is the burden of the Examiner to establish why one                
          having ordinary skill in the art would have been led to the                 
          claimed invention by the express teachings or suggestions                   
          found in the prior art, or by implications contained in such                
          teachings or suggestions.  In re Sernaker, 702 F.2d 989, 995,               
          217 USPQ 1, 6 (Fed. Cir. 1983).  "Additionally, when determin-              
          ing obviousness,                                                            




          the claimed invention should be considered as a whole; there                
          is no legally recognizable 'heart' of the invention."  Para-                
          Ordnance Mfg. v. SGS Importers Int'l, Inc., 73 F.3d 1085,                   
          1087, 37 USPQ2d 1237, 1239 (Fed. Cir. 1995), cert. denied, 519              
          U.S. 822 (1996) citing W. L. Gore & Assoc., Inc. v. Garlock,                


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