Ex Parte VON BROCKDORFF - Page 4




          Appeal No. 2003-2102                                        Page 4           
          Application No. 09/254,723                                                   


          appellant's arguments set forth in the briefs along with the                 
          examiner's rationale in support of the rejection and arguments in            
          rebuttal set forth in the examiner's answer.                                 
               Upon consideration of the record before us, we reverse,                 
          essentially for the reasons set forth by appellant.                          
               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 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. 1988); Ashland Oil, Inc. v. Delta Resins &                   
          Refractories, Inc., 776 F.2d 281, 293, 227 USPQ 657, 664 (Fed.               
          Cir. 1985); ACS Hosp. Sys., Inc. v. Montefiore Hosp., 732 F.2d               
          1572, 1577, 221 USPQ 929, 933 (Fed. Cir. 1984).  These showings              







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