Appeal No. 96-2376
Application No. 08/195,341
teachings of the applied references and how such is applied to
the claimed subject matter. Rather, appellant contends first
that the Ogata patent is invalid and is, therefore, not a
proper reference. Further, appellant contends that since
Ogata was filed July 19, 1990 and Ijuin did not issue until
ten months later, on May 7, 1991, Ogata could not have relied
on Ijuin which did not exist, at the time of Ogata’s filing.
Appellant’s reasoning is misplaced. Issued United States
patents possess a presumption of validity. A mere allegation 3
of invalidity, by appellant, without a proffer of any
evidence, falls far short of overcoming the statutory
presumption of validity. In any event, a reference, even an
invalid patent, is still a good reference against a claim for
all that it does show. The examiner has explained that Ogata
discloses the subject matter of claim 5 but for the “document
transport mechanism.” However, the examiner has explained
that while not shown, Ogata would have inherently included a
document transport mechanism in the disclosed facsimile
device. If necessary, the examiner points to Ijuin for a
335 U.S.C. § 282.
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