Appeal No. 96-2520
Application 07/891,852
as taught by Sotome '124. However, every patent is presumed
valid. 35 U.S.C. § 282. It is the burden of the Appellant to
come forward with evidence, affidavits or declarations to
rebut the presumption of operability of a patent by a
preponderance of the evidence. In re Sasse, 629 F.2d 675,
681, 207 USPQ 107, 111 (CCPA 1980). We note that Appellant
has not come forward with any evidence to support Appellant's
argument and thereby Appellant has not met this burden of
overcoming the Examiner's prima facie case. Therefore, we
will sustain the Examiner's rejection of claim 4.
In regard to the rejection of claim 5 under
35 U.S.C. § 102, Appellant argues on page 3 of the first reply
brief that Sotome '124 fails to teach that the "peripheral
ring portion is attached inside said support unit" as recited
in
claim 5. In the first supplemental answer, the Examiner
argues
that Sotome '124 teaches in Figure 5 that the peripheral ring
portion is attached inside the support unit 19. Upon review
10
Page: Previous 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007