Appeal No. 1997-1249
Application 08/179,601
ordinary skill in the art would have been led to the claimed
invention by the reasonable teachings or suggestions found in
the prior art, or by a reasonable inference to the artisan
contained in such teachings or suggestions. In re Sernaker,
702 F.2d 989, 995, 217 USPQ 1, 6 (Fed. Cir. 1983).
"Additionally, when determining obviousness, the claimed
invention should be considered as a whole; there is no legally
recognizable 'heart' of the invention." Para-Ordnance Mfg. v.
SGS Importers Int’l., 73 F.3d 1085, 1087, 37 USPQ2d 1237, 1239
(Fed. Cir. 1995) (citing W. L. Gore & Assocs. v. Garlock,
Inc., 721 F.2d 1540, 1548,
220 USPQ 303, 309 (Fed. Cir. 1983), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 851
(1984)).
With regard to the rejection of claims 28 and 31, grouped
together by both the Examiner (answer-page 5) and Appellant
(brief-page 6), the Examiner reasons that Doehler teaches a
photodetector with the claimed layered structure (Figures 3A
and 3B), except that the intrinsic (i) layers are shown as the
same thickness as the n and p layers. The Examiner then cites
Yamazaki for its photodetector with n and p layers thinner
5
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007