Ex parte TAKEDA et al. - Page 4




                 Appeal No. 2000-1655                                                                                     Page 4                        
                 Application No. 08/836,892                                                                                                             


                 not sustain the examiner's rejection of claims 28 and 33 to 40                                                                         
                 under 35 U.S.C. § 103.  Our reasoning for this determination                                                                           
                 follows.                                                                                                                               


                          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                           1                                              
                 have led one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the                                                                               

                          1Evidence of a suggestion, teaching, or motivation to                                                                         
                 modify a reference may flow from the prior art references                                                                              
                 themselves, the knowledge of one of ordinary skill in the art,                                                                         
                 or, in some cases, from the nature of the problem to be                                                                                
                 solved, see Pro-Mold & Tool Co. v. Great Lakes Plastics, Inc.,                                                                         
                 75 F.3d 1568, 1573, 37 USPQ2d 1626, 1630 (Fed. Cir. 1996),                                                                             
                 Para-Ordinance Mfg., Inc. v. SGS Importers Int'l., Inc., 73                                                                            
                 F.3d 1085, 1088, 37 USPQ2d 1237, 1240 (Fed. Cir. 1995), cert.                                                                          
                 denied, 117 S. Ct. 80 (1996), although "the suggestion more                                                                            
                 often comes from the teachings of the pertinent references,"                                                                           
                 In re Rouffet, 149 F.3d 1350, 1355, 47 USPQ2d 1453, 1456 (Fed.                                                                         
                 Cir. 1998).  The range of sources available, however, does not                                                                         
                 diminish the requirement for actual evidence.  That is, the                                                                            
                 showing must be clear and particular.  See, e.g., C.R. Bard                                                                            
                 Inc. v. M3 Sys., Inc., 157 F.3d 1340, 1352, 48 USPQ2d 1225,                                                                            
                 1232 (Fed. Cir. 1998), cert. denied, 119 S. Ct. 1804 (1999).                                                                           
                 A broad conclusory statement regarding the obviousness of                                                                              
                 modifying a reference, standing alone, is not "evidence."  See                                                                         
                 In re Dembiczak, 175 F.3d 994, 999, 50 USPQ2d 1614, 1617 (Fed.                                                                         
                 Cir. 1999).                                                                                                                            







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