Appeal No. 2003-0500 Page 4
Application No. 09/794,362
the examiner. Moreover, the examiner has determined that Ito
discloses the interchangeableness of tellurium compounds that
correspond to those required by appellant’s representative claim
with tellurium compounds that correspond to those employed by
Kashi for the purpose of sensitizing silver halide grains. See
page 2 of the final rejection and the portions of Ito referred to
by the examiner therein. Appellant does not contest those
determinations of the examiner in the briefs.
Based on those unchallenged factual findings of the
examiner, we agree with the examiner’s determination that the
combined teachings of Kashi and Ito would have rendered the use
of tellurium compounds corresponding to Formula X of Ito as a
replacement for or addition to the tellurium compounds of Formula
I or II of Kashi prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in
the art with a reasonable expectation of success in sensitizing
the silver halide grains of Kashi in so doing.2
Appellant notes that Ito discloses no additional preference
for the compounds of their formula X over the compounds of their
2 As pointed out by the examiner in the final rejection, the
formula VIII and IX tellurium compounds of Ito correspond to
Kashi’s formula I and II tellurium compounds and the formula X
tellurium compounds of Ito correspond to appellant’s claimed
tellurium compounds of formula III.
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