Appeal No. 2006-1654
Application No. 09/929,488
USPQ 459, 467 (1966). The examiner must articulate reasons for the
examiner’s decision. In re Lee, 277 F.3d 1338, 1342, 61 USPQ2d 1430,
1433 (Fed. Cir. 2002). In particular, the examiner must show that there is a
teaching, motivation, or suggestion of a motivation to combine references
relied on as evidence of obviousness. Id. 277 F.3d at 1343, 61 USPQ2d at
1433-34. The examiner cannot simply reach conclusions based on the
examiner’s own understanding or experience - or on his or her assessment
of what would be basic knowledge or common sense. Rather, the examiner
must point to some concrete evidence in the record in support of these
findings.” In re Zurko, 258 F.3d 1379, 1386, 59 USPQ2d 1693, 1697 (Fed.
Cir. 2001). Thus the examiner must not only assure that the requisite
findings are made, based on evidence of record, but must also explain the
reasoning by which the findings are deemed to support the examiner’s
conclusion. However, a suggestion, teaching, or motivation to combine the
relevant prior art teachings does not have to be found explicitly in the prior
art, as the teaching, motivation, or suggestion may be implicit from the prior
art as a whole, rather than expressly stated in the references. The test for
an implicit showing is what the combined teachings, knowledge of one of
ordinary skill in the art, and the nature of the problem to be solved as a
whole would have suggested to those of ordinary skill in the art. In re Kahn,
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