Appeal No. 1996-0796
Application No. 08/097,662
To establish a prima facie case of obviousness within the
meaning of 35 U.S.C. § 103, the examiner must demonstrate that
one of ordinary skill in the art would have found both a
suggestion to build the here claimed device and a reasonable
expectation of successfully doing so in the prior art. In re
Vaeck, 947 F.2d 488, 483, 20 USPQ2d 1438, 1442 (Fed. Cir.
1991). In other words, the examiner bears the initial burden
of supplying the factual basis to establish the above-
mentioned suggestion and reasonable expectation of success to
render the claimed subject matter prima facie obvious. In re
Warner, 379 F.2d 1011, 1017, 154 USPQ 173, 178 (CCPA 1967),
cert. denied, 389 U.S. 1057 (1968).
To carry this initial burden under Section 103, the
examiner relies on the combined teachings of Dillehay and
either Nakamura or Hartsock. See Answer, page 3. The
examiner takes the position that it would have been obvious to
substitute the silicone rubber liner employed in a closed bomb
device described in Dillehay with the ceramic liner described
in Nakamura or Hartsock. See Answer, page 5. According to
the examiner (Answer, page 4), the ceramic and the silicone
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