Ex Parte Mattson - Page 3



          Appeal No. 2006-0277                                                        
          Application No. 10/234,305                                                  


               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 teachings, suggestions or implications 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             
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