Ex Parte TAYLOR et al - Page 5




          Appeal No. 2003-0781                                                         
          Application 09/373,499                                                       


          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             
          1048, 1052, 189 USPQ 143, 147 (CCPA 1976).  Only those arguments             
          actually made by appellants have been considered in this                     
          decision.  Arguments which appellants could have made but chose              
          not to make in the brief have not been considered and are deemed             
          to be waived [see 37 CFR § 1.192(a)].                                        
          We consider first the rejection of claims 1-7, 21-25 and                     
          34-38 based on the teachings of Otala and Morcos.  With respect              
          to independent claim 1, the examiner essentially finds that Otala            
          teaches the claimed invention except that Otala does not teach               
          the format independent interface (FII).  The examiner cites                  
          Morcos as teaching a standard component object model (COM) which,            

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