Ex parte BRIECHLE - Page 7




          Appeal No. 1998-0957                                                         
          Application 08/258,409                                                       


          forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 17, 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. Sys., Inc. v. Montefiore Hosp., 732 F.2d 1572, 1577, 221               
          USPQ 929, 933 (Fed. Cir. 1984).  These showings by the                       
          examiner are an essential part of complying with the burden of               
          presenting a prima facie case of obviousness.  Note In re                    
          Oetiker, 977 F.2d 1443, 1445, 24 USPQ2d 1443, 1444 (Fed. Cir.                
          1992).  If that burden is met, the burden then shifts to the                 
          applicant to overcome the prima facie case with argument                     
          and/or evidence.  Obviousness is then determined on the basis                
          of the evidence as a whole and the relative persuasiveness of                
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