Ex parte NELSON et al. - Page 4




          Appeal No. 1998-3342                                       Page 4           
          Application No. 08/540,943                                                  


               In deciding this appeal, we considered the subject matter              
          on appeal and the rejections made by the examiner.                          
          Furthermore, we duly considered the arguments and evidence of               
          the appellants and examiner.  After considering the record, we              
          are persuaded that the examiner erred in rejecting claims 1-6.              
          Accordingly, we reverse.                                                    


               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. Section 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)).                   



               Regarding claims 1-6, the examiner alleges, "Sasaki shows              
          a radio receiver that includes circuitry for adjusting the                  
          sensitivity of the receiver by decreasing attenuation when the              








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