Ex Parte FOX et al - Page 4




          Appeal No. 2003-0072                                                        
          Application No. 09/032,407                                                  


               Reference is made to the briefs and answer for the                     
          respective positions of appellants and the examiner.                        


                                       OPINION                                        
               In rejecting claims under 35 U.S.C. § 103, it is incumbent             
          upon the examiner to establish a factual basis to support the               
          legal conclusion of obviousness.  See In re Fine, 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 teachings,                      
          suggestions or implications 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).             

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