Appeal No. 96-3652
Application No. 08/348,820
The prior art references of record relied upon by the
examiner in rejecting the appealed claims are:
Yamazaki et al. (Yamazaki) 4,105,810 Aug. 08,
1978
Mizuhashi et al. (Mizuhashi) 4,485,146 Nov.
27, 1984
Claims 30-37 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as
being unpatentable over Mizuhashi in view of Yamazaki.
OPINION
We have carefully reviewed the specification, the claims,
and the respective positions presented by appellants in their
brief and the examiner in the answer thereto. In so doing, we
find ourselves in agreement with appellants’ basic contention
that the applied prior art fails to establish the prima facie
obviousness of the claimed subject matter. Accordingly, we
will not sustain the examiner’s rejection for the reasons as
follows.
In rejecting the 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). A prima facie case of
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