Ex parte RICE - Page 5




          Appeal No. 1998-0368                                                        
          Application No. 08/632,183                                                  


                                       OPINION                                        
               We have considered the record before us, and we will                   
          reverse the rejection of claims 1 to 3.                                     
               In rejecting claims under 35 U.S.C. § 103, it is                       
          incumbent upon the Examiner to establish a factual basis to                 
          support the legal conclusion of obviousness.  See In re Fine,               
          837 F.2d 1071, 1073, 5 USPQ2d 1596, 1598 (Fed. Cir. 1988).  In              
          so doing, the Examiner is expected to make the factual                      
          determinations set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S.              
          1, 17-18, 148 USPQ 459, 467                                                 
          (1966), and to provide a reason why one having ordinary skill               
          in the pertinent art would have been led to modify the prior                
          art or to combine prior art references to arrive at the                     
          claimed invention.  Such reason must stem from some teaching,               
          suggestion or implication in the prior art as a whole or                    
          knowledge generally available to one having ordinary skill in               
          the art.  Uniroyal, Inc. v. Rudkin-Wiley Corp., 837 F.2d 1044,              
          1051, 5 USPQ2d 1434, 1438 (Fed. Cir.), cert. denied, 488 U.S.               
          825 (1988); Ashland Oil, Inc. v. Delta Resins & Refractories,               
          Inc., 776 F.2d 281, 293, 227 USPQ 657, 664 (Fed. Cir. 1985),                
          cert. denied, 475 U.S. 1017 (1986); ACS Hosp. System., Inc. v.              
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