Appeal No. 95-2489
Application 07/826,207
Pedersen further discloses that the graphite particles may be coated with Teflon to reduce the tendency of
the graphite fibers to coagulate (col. 3, 56-62)
Claim 1, as amended, requires that the particle have a photovoltaic core including a bipolar junction
diode and a dielectric material at least partially encapsulating the photovoltaic core. We find that none of
the references relied upon by the examiner teaches or suggests a particle having a photovoltaic core having
a bipolar junction diode let alone a photovoltaic core having a bipolar junction diode at least partially
encapsulated with a dielectric material.
The examiner concedes that Block does not specifically teach that the semiconductor disclosed
by the patentee has at least one bipolar junction, but concludes in a summary fashion that “as silicon and
germanium are well known semiconductors as shown by the definition of ‘semiconductor’ in Grant &
Hackh’s Chemical Dictionary, and as appellant’s preferred bipolar junction diode material is either silicon
or germanium ..., it appears that the teachings of Block et al, in view of Inoue and Pedersen, taken further
with Grant & Hackh’s Dictionary are sufficient to make obvious the presently claimed invention” (suppl.
answer: p.2). The bipolar junction must follow from the prior art, and not from appellant’s preferred
materials. There is simply no teaching or suggestion in the prior art relied upon by the examiner, nor any
detailed analysis of the prior art by the examiner, which would have led a person having ordinary skill in
the art to the claimed subject matter, i.e. an electroviscous fluid containing a photovoltaic material having
a bipolar junction diode which is at least partially encapsulated with a dielectric material.
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