Appeal No. 2002-0102
Application No. 09/298,879
references, there must be some "teaching, suggestion or incentive
supporting the combination." In re Geiger, 815 F.2d 686, 688, 2
USPQ2d 1276, 1278 (Fed. Cir. 1987). "The factual inquiry whether
to combine references must be thorough and searching." McGinley
v. Franklin Sports, Inc., 262 F.3d 1339, 1351-52, 60 USPQ2d 1001,
1008 (Fed. Cir. 2001).
In rendering a decision on appeal, the Board must ensure
that the requisite findings are made based on the evidence of
record. See In re Lee, 277 F.3d 1338, 1342, 61 USPQ2d 1430, 1432
(Fed. Cir. 2002). The Board must set forth its findings and the
grounds thereof as supported by the agency record and explain its
application of the law to the facts. Id. the Board's decision
must be supported by substantial evidence. In re Zurko, 258 F.3d
1379, 1381, 59 USPQ2d 1693, 1694 (Fed. Cir. 2001).
For the reasons discussed below, we find that the examiner
has failed to meet his burden of establishing a prima facie case
of obviousness. In particular, the examiner has failed to make
the requisite findings of fact and we are constrained to reverse
the examiner's final rejection of the claims.
As noted above in the background section, each of
independent claims 1, 10 and 18 requires that during the second
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