Ex parte FRIEDMAN - Page 3




            Appeal No. 2001-2611                                                          Page 3              
            Application No. 08/566,576                                                                        


            rejections, and to the brief (Paper No. 43, filed February 28, 2001) and reply brief (Paper       
            No. 46, filed May 14, 2001) for the appellant's arguments thereagainst.                           


                                                  OPINION                                                     
                   In reaching our decision in this appeal, we have given careful consideration to the        
            appellant's specification and claims, to the applied prior art references, and to the             
            respective positions articulated by the appellant and the examiner.  Upon evaluation of all       
            the evidence before us, it is our conclusion that the evidence adduced by the examiner is         
            insufficient to establish a prima facie case of obviousness with respect to the claims under      
            appeal.  Accordingly, we will not sustain the examiner's rejection of claims 1, 3 to 9, 13 and    
            15 to 20 under 35 U.S.C. § 103.  Our reasoning for this determination follows.                    


                   In rejecting claims under 35 U.S.C. § 103, the examiner bears the initial burden of        
            presenting a prima facie case of obviousness.  See In re Rijckaert, 9 F.3d 1531, 1532, 28         
            USPQ2d 1955, 1956 (Fed. Cir. 1993).  A prima facie case of obviousness is established             
            by presenting evidence that would have led one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the        
            relevant teachings of the references to arrive at the claimed invention.  See In re Fine, 837     
            F.2d 1071, 1074, 5 USPQ2d 1596, 1598 (Fed. Cir. 1988) and In re Lintner, 458 F.2d                 
            1013, 1016, 173 USPQ 560, 562 (CCPA 1972).                                                        









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