Ex parte MEEKER - Page 8




                                1 Application for patent filed August 27, 1993.                                                                                                        
                     sustain the                                                                                                                                                       
                     35 U.S.C. § 102(e) rejection of claim 7, and likewise its                                                                                                         
                     dependent claims 8, 9, 10, 21 and 29, which incorporate the                                                                                                       
                     unmet limitations noted.                                                                                                                                          
                     35 U.S.C. § 103 Rejections                                                                                                                                        
                                           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 reasonable teachings or suggestions                                                                                                      
                     found in the prior art, or by a reasonable inference to the                                                                                                       
                     artisan contained in such teachings or suggestions.                                                                                                               
                     In re Sernaker, 702 F.2d 989, 995, 217 USPQ 1, 6 (Fed. Cir.                                                                                                       
                     1983).  "Additionally, when determining 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) (citing W. L. Gore &                                                                                                           
                     Assocs., Inc. v. Garlock, Inc., 721 F.2d 1540, 1548, 220 USPQ                                                                                                     
                     303, 309 (Fed. Cir. 1983), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 851 (1984)).                                                                                                    






                                81                                                                                                                                                     
                                  Application for patent filed August 27, 1993.                                                                                                        





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