Appeal No. 1996-2734 Page 9
Application No. 08/133,680
reducing agents, as would have presumptively been expected by
one of ordinary skill in the art from this record. In this
regard, it is significant that acids are included in
appellant’s list of reducing agents. Consequently, on this
record, we find that the teachings of Schwartzkopf would have
led one of ordinary skill in the art to the use of reducing
agents that are embraced by claim 15 and in amounts
corresponding to the claimed effective amount in the stripping
composition with a reasonable expectation of success in so
doing.
For the foregoing reasons, we find that the examiner has
presented a prima facie case of obviousness based upon the
teachings of the applied references. Determining
patentability
on the totality of the record, by a preponderance of evidence
with due consideration to the persuasiveness of appellants’
arguments, we conclude that the subject matter of the appealed
claims would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the
art within the meaning of § 103. See In re Oetiker, 977 F.2d
1443, 1445, 24 USPQ2d 1443, 1444 (Fed. Cir. 1992).
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