Ex Parte TAKISHIMA et al - Page 7



         Appeal No. 2002-0745                                                       
         Application 08/893,379                                                     

         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                      
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