Appeal No. 1997-2830
Application 08/440,362
of the rejection, and to the appellant’s Brief (Paper No. 10, June 28, 1996) for the
appellant’s argument thereagainst. As a consequence of our review, we make the
determinations which follow.
DECISION ON APPEAL
Claims 1-5 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as unpatentable for obviousness
in view of Boynton.
In rejecting 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 obviousness is established
by presenting evidence that the reference teachings would appear to be sufficient for one
of ordinary skill in the relevant art having the references before him to make the proposed
combination or other modification. See In re Lintner, 458 F.2d 1013, 1016, 173 USPQ
560, 562 (CCPA 1972). Furthermore, the conclusion that the claimed subject matter is
prima facie obvious must be supported by evidence, as shown by some objective teaching
in the prior art or by knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art that
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