Ex Parte De Haan et al - Page 4



         Appeal No. 2004-2297                                       Page 4          
         Application No. 10/196,817                                                 

         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            
         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.  See id.; In re Hedges, 783 F.2d 1038, 1039,          
         228 USPQ 685, 686 (Fed. Cir. 1986); In re Piasecki, 745 F.2d               







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