Ex Parte HENNINGSEN - Page 4




          Appeal No. 2002-0903                                                        
          Application 09/359,916                                                      


          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            



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