Appeal No. 1997-1194
Application No. 08/084,668
as to establish a prima facie case. In considering the
disclosure of a reference, it is proper to take into account
not only specific teachings of the reference but also the
inferences which one skilled in the art would reasonably be
expected to draw therefrom. In re Preda,
401 F.2d 825, 826, 159 USPQ 342, 344 (CCPA 1968). Since the
Examiner’s prima facie case of obviousness has not been
overcome by any persuasive arguments by Appellant, the 35
U.S.C.
§ 103 rejection of dependent claims 4, 5, 8, and 20 is
sustained.
Turning now to a consideration of dependent claims 2 and
15 through 17, grouped and argued separately by Appellants, we
note that, while we found Appellant’s arguments to be
unpersuasive with respect to the obviousness rejection of
claims 1 through 10, 12 through 14, 19, and 20, we reach the
opposite conclusion with respect to claims 2 and 15 through
17. Claims
2 and 15 (from which claims 16 and 17 depend) both include
specific recitations to virtual connection circuits and
circuit allocation routines in combination with a virtual
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