Appeal No. 1999-1941 Application No. 08/629,700 OPINION We have considered the rejections advanced by the Examiner and the supporting arguments. We have, likewise, reviewed the Appellant's arguments set forth in the brief. We reverse. In our analysis, we are guided by the general proposition that in an appeal involving a rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 103, an examiner is under a burden to make out a prima facie case of obviousness. If that burden is met, the burden of going forward 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 In re Oetiker, 977 F.2d 1443, 1445, 24 USPQ2d 1443, 1444 (Fed. Cir. 1992); 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). We are further guided by the precedent of our reviewing court that the limitations from the disclosure are not to be imported into the claims. In re Lundberg, 244 F.2d 543, 113 USPQ 530 (CCPA 1957); In re Queener, 796 F.2d 461, 230 USPQ 3Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 NextLast modified: November 3, 2007