Appeal No. 96-0859
Application No. 08/252,727
oxidize. The examiner then appears to employ Short to explain
that despite Rodriguez’ teaching, platinum and palladium do
oxidize. We find nothing in Short which contradicts anything
taught by Rodriguez. However, notwithstanding whether Short
and Rodriguez are in conflict, the examiner has clearly failed
to set forth a prima facie case of obviousness in that the
examiner has failed to address key claim limitations.
Each of the independent claims calls for, in one form or
another, an “oxygen source material.” This term is
specifically defined at the top of page 11 of the
specification as “a material with oxygen partial pressure
P (O ) which is greater than the partial pressure at which the
R 2
oxygen-containing dielectric is reduced, referred to herein as
the critical partial pressure P (O ).” Claim 14 specifically
C 2
recites functional language attached to the recitation of the
oxygen source material such that “partial pressure of oxygen
at all points in said dielectric is sufficiently high to
prevent reduction of said dielectric.” Yet, the examiner
never appears to come to grips with this language. The
examiner has pointed to nothing in the applied references
which provide for the claimed “oxygen source material.”
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