Ex Parte Altman et al - Page 4



         Appeal No. 2004-1379                                                       
         Application No. 09/823,458                                                 

         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.), 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 applicants to overcome the prima facie case with argument           
         and/or evidence.  Obviousness is then determined on the basis of           
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