Appeal No. 96-1451
Application No. 07/937,936
substituting the non-rare earth containing, lead and manganese
activated calcium silicate of IES for Yamamoto's rare earth
oxide phosphor (each of which has wavelengths in the 600-620
nm range). The examiner's motivation for the substitution is
to reduce the cost, as non-rare earth phosphors are known to
be more easily obtainable and less expensive than rare earth
phosphors. Further, the examiner asserts (Answer, page 12)
that "rare-earth and non-rare-earth phosphors are functional
equivalents and selection of the non-rare-earth phosphor is an
obvious design choice because the non-rare-earth phosphor
would perform the equivalent function at a greatly reduced
cost."
Appellants contend that Yamamoto cannot be modified by
substituting another material for the rare-earth containing
red phosphor because Yamamoto specifies that it must be
trivalent europium activated rare earth oxide. Appellants
(Brief, page 4) point to page 4, lines 12-21, the examples on
pages 6-9, and that "on pages 9-10 Yamamoto lists several
other phosphors as substitutes for the blue, green, and 620-
660 nm red components of the blend but does not list a
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Last modified: November 3, 2007