Appeal No. 2003-1371 Page 24
Application No. 09/186,856
2. Obviousness Determination
As mentioned regarding the fifth point of contention, in Naka's cooperative mode,
"the second character follows the first character through the playfield." Col. 19, ll. 3-4.
Because the first character leads the second character through the playfield, the first
player's character traverses "a prescribed path through the playfield," id. at ll. 16-17,
before the second player's character.
"Not only does the second character follow the first character, but the second
character also imitates the first character's movements." Id. at ll. 7-9. "At one point [in
the path], there is a trench. A platform (an 'event') moves back and forth across the
trench. . . . [T]he character must jump onto the platform and ride the platform across
the trench and then jump off the platform on the other side of the trench." Id. at ll. 21-
24. In the cooperative mode, the first player's character would ride the platform to
traverse the trench before the second player's character. Because the first player's
character traverses a path or rides a platform before the second player's character
does, we find that the first player operating on the path or platform before the other
player operates thereon. Therefore, we affirm the obviousness rejection of claim 18.
"In rejecting claims under 35 U.S.C. Section 103, the examiner bears the initial
burden of presenting a prima facie case of obviousness." In re Rijckaert, 9 F.3d 1531,
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