Appeal No. 1998-2029 Page 5 Application No. 08/258,643 We will not sustain the rejection of claims 7-9 under 35 U.S.C. § 103. 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 would have led one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the relevant teachings of the references to arrive at the claimed invention. See In re Fine, 837 F.2d 1071, 1074, 5 USPQ2d 1596, 1598 (Fed. Cir. 1988) and In re Lintner, 458 F.2d 1013, 1016, 173 USPQ 560, 562 (CCPA 1972). Claims 7-9 recite a disposable surgical drape comprising, inter alia, a sheet having a fenestration and a pouch having (1) a thermoplastic layer having an opening defined by an inner perimetric edge and an outer perimetric edge secured to the sheet in a liquid tight seal that completely surrounds the fenestration, and (2) closure means for sealing the innerPage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 NextLast modified: November 3, 2007