Appeal No. 2005-1680
Application No. 10/012,079
reference to cure the deficiencies of Kosaki and Brinket. As we
see it, Suitor does not provide the requisite motivation to
provide a passageway, as defined in the present claims, in the
electroplating apparatus of Kosaki or Brinket.
Suitor relates to electrodialysis apparatus used to separate
oxygen from gases, and bears no clear relationship to
electroplating apparatus, as in Kosaki or Brinket, which are
typically used to form a metallic layer on the surface of a
substrate; the layer being deposited by an electroplating
solution. In essence, the examiner has failed to convincingly
explain why the benefit discussed by Suitor, i.e., uniform
removal of oxygen through an oxygen conductive solid electrolyte
disk by radial flow of feedstock gas from the outside edge of the
disk to the center (col. 1, ll. 35-40), would be considered
pertinent to electroplating apparatus by those of ordinary skill
in the plating art.
While the examiner and the appellants focus upon differences
and similarities in the fluid flow characteristics of gases and
liquids, we focus upon the distinction between electrodialysis
(passage of oxygen through a solid electrolyte as in Suitor) and
electroplating (deposition of a metallic layer on the surface of
a substrate as in Kosaki). Accordingly, in our view, the
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