Appeal No. 1998-2800 Page 4
Application No. 08/572,505
OPINION
Upon careful review of the entire record including the
respective positions advanced by appellants and the examiner,
we find ourselves in agreement with appellants that the
examiner has failed to carry the burden of establishing a
prima facie case of obviousness. See In re Oetiker, 977 F.2d
1443, 1445, 24 USPQ2d 1443, 1444 (Fed. Cir. 1992); In re
Piasecki, 745 F.2d 1468, 1471-1472, 223 USPQ 785, 787-788
(Fed. Cir. 1984). Accordingly, we will not sustain the
examiner's rejection.
Uesugi is concerned with forming a support for a
lithographic printing plate that involves the steps of
treating an aluminum or aluminum alloy sheet or web with
caustic soda and an acid while induction-heating the web and
thereafter a photo-sensitive layer is formed on the support.
In addition to aluminum, the alloy may contain a small amount
of other metals including copper and nickel (column 2, lines
19-29). Uesugi further suggests that another metal such as
zinc or iron may be used in forming the sheet or web as an
option (column 2, lines 36-38).
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