Ex parte VARSHNEY et al. - Page 6




          Appeal No. 95-2138                                                           
          Application 07/852,078                                                       


          (CCPA 1973), cert. denied, 416 U.S. 935 (1974); In re Brown, 477             
          F.2d 946, 950, 177 USPQ 691, 694 (CCPA 1973); and In re Ghiron,              
          442 F.2d 985, 992,169 USPQ 723, 728 (CCPA 1971).  However, the               
          burden was initially upon the Examiner to establish a reasonable             
          basis for questioning the adequacy of the disclosure.  In re                 
          Strahilevitz, 668 F.2d 1229, 1232, 212 USPQ 561, 563-64 (CCPA                
          1982);          In re Angstadt, 537 F.2d 498, 501-02, 190 USPQ               
          214, 217-18    (CCPA 1976); and In re Armbruster, 512 F.2d 676,              
          677-78, 185 USPQ 152, 153 (CCPA 1975).                                       
               In claims 1 through 3 and 10 through 15, Appellants claim a             
          ferroelectric thin film structure comprising a substrate and a               
          modulated PZT and PT heterostructure ferroelectric thin film                 
          formed on the substrate.  Thus, the claims are directed to a                 
          composition of matter.  Furthermore, the utility of ferroelectric            
          thin films has been known in electronics before Appellants=                  
          filing date and has been in use prior to Appellants= invention as            
          evidenced by Appellants= statements found on pages 1-3 of the                
          specification as well as prior art cited by the Examiner.  In                
          particular, Swartz shows in Table 1 on page 2 that ferroelectric             
          thin films have been used in nonvolatile memory and transducer               
          devices.  Therefore, we find that the utility of ferroelectric               
          thin film structures was known in the art before the filing of               
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