Ex parte YANG - Page 4




                Appeal No. 1999-1927                                                                                                    
                Application No. 08/499,367                                                                                              


                837 F.2d 1071, 1073, 5 USPQ2d 1596, 1598 (Fed. Cir. 1988).  In so doing, the examiner                                   
                is expected to make the factual determinations set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383                               
                U.S. 1, 17, 148 USPQ 459, 467 (1966), and to provide a reason why one having ordinary                                   
                skill in the pertinent art would have been led to modify the prior art or to combine prior art                          
                references to arrive at the claimed invention.  Such reason must stem from some teaching,                               
                suggestion or implication in the prior art as a whole or knowledge generally available to                               
                one having ordinary skill in the art.  Uniroyal, Inc. v. Rudkin-Wiley Corp., 837 F.2d 1044,                             
                1051, 5 USPQ2d 1434, 1438 (Fed. Cir.), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 825 (1988); Ashland Oil,                                  
                Inc. v. Delta Resins & Refractories, Inc., 776 F.2d 281, 293, 227 USPQ 657, 664 (Fed.                                   
                Cir. 1985), cert. denied, 475 U.S. 1017 (1986); ACS Hosp. Sys., Inc. v. Montefiore Hosp.,                               
                732 F.2d 1572, 1577, 221 USPQ 929, 933 (Fed. Cir. 1984).  These showings by the                                         
                examiner are an essential part of complying with the burden of presenting a prima facie                                 
                case of obviousness.  Note In re Oetiker, 977 F.2d 1443, 1445, 24 USPQ2d 1443, 1444                                     
                (Fed. Cir. 1992).  If that burden is met, the burden then shifts to the applicant to overcome                           
                the prima facie case with argument and/or evidence.  Obviousness is then determined on                                  
                the basis of the evidence as a whole and the relative persuasiveness of the arguments.                                  
                See Id.; In re Hedges, 783 F.2d 1038, 1039, 228 USPQ 685, 686 (Fed. Cir. 1986); In re                                   
                Piasecki, 745 F.2d 1468, 1472, 223 USPQ 785, 788 (Fed. Cir. 1984); and In re Rinehart,                                  
                531 F.2d 1048, 1052, 189 USPQ 143, 147 (CCPA 1976).  Only those arguments actually                                      


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