Appeal No. 1997-0375
Application No. 08/287,473
The examiner relies upon the following references as
evidence of obviousness:
Kawano 3,988,173 Oct. 26, 1976
Osawa et al. (JP '326) 64-15326 Jan. 19, 1989
Appellants' claimed invention is directed to a method of
producing a steel sheet that is used for making cans. The
method comprises subjecting an alloy composition to hot
rolling, coiling, pickling and cold rolling, continuous
annealing and temper rolling. The alloy composition comprises
C and N with "the total amount of C and N being about 0.008
wt% or more and at least a majority of the components C and N
being present as a solid solution." The processed composition
may also contain B in an amount of about 0.0001 to 0.001 wt%.
Appealed claims 1-6 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103
as being unpatentable over Kawano in view of JP '326.
Upon careful consideration of the opposing arguments
presented on appeal, we find that the examiner has failed to
establish a prima facie case of obviousness for the claimed
subject matter. Accordingly, we will not sustain the
examiner's rejection.
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