Ex parte POTH - Page 4




          Appeal No. 1998-3128                                       Page 4           
          Application No. 08/624,874                                                  


                                       OPINION                                        
               In deciding this appeal, we considered the subject matter              
          on appeal and the rejection advanced by the examiner.                       
          Furthermore, we duly considered the arguments and evidence of               
          the appellant                                                               
          and examiner.  After considering the totality of the record,                
          we are persuaded that the examiner did not err in rejecting                 
          claims 1-3 and 6-8 but did err in rejecting claims 4, 5, 9,                 
          and 10.  Accordingly, we affirm-in-part.                                    


               We begin by noting the following principles from In re                 
          Rijckaert, 9 F.3d 1531, 1532, 28 USPQ2d 1955, 1956 (Fed. Cir.               
          1993).                                                                      
               In rejecting claims under 35 U.S.C. § 103, the                         
               examiner bears the initial burden of presenting a                      
               prima facie case of obviousness.  In re Oetiker, 977                   
               F.2d 1443, 1445, 24 USPQ2d 1443, 1444 (Fed. Cir.                       
               1992)....  "A prima facie case of obviousness is                       
               established when the teachings from the prior art                      
               itself would appear to have suggested the claimed                      
               subject matter to a person of ordinary skill in the                    
               art."  In re Bell, 991 F.2d 781, 782, 26 USPQ2d                        
               1529, 1531 (Fed. Cir. 1993) (quoting In re Rinehart,                   
               531 F.2d 1048, 1051, 189 USPQ 143, 147 (CCPA 1976)).                   










Page:  Previous  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  Next 

Last modified: November 3, 2007