Appeal No. 96-1367
Application No. 07/804,501
(1) gas-cycle refrigerators and (2) magnetic refrigeration of
the type disclosed by European '743. Appellants' claims on
appeal define a gas-cycle refrigerator of the first type, and
the examiner has failed to establish on this record why it
would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art
to use the refrigerant material employed in the magnetic
refrigerator of European '743 as a heat regenerative material
in a gas-cycle refrigerator of the type disclosed by British
'958. Stated otherwise, the examiner has not established that
one of ordinary skill in the art would have had a reasonable
expectation that the magnetic refrigerants of European '743
would be suitable for use as a regenerative material in the
gas-cycle refrigerator of British '958. In the absence of
such reasoning, the examiner has not made out a prima facie
case of obviousness for the claimed subject matter.
The examiner states at page 6 of the Answer that "the
refrigeration cycles according to the primary and secondary
references each refer to the use of magnetic refrigeration and
comprise applicant's regenerative material and refrigerant."
However, the examiner does not cite any particular passage in
-5-
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007