Appeal No. 96-1841
Application 08/101,324
Krounbi, incorporated by reference in the specification at
page 3. Figure 3 of Krounbi discloses an electrical
conductor layer 26, hard magnetic layer 16, nonmagnetic
spacer layer 18, MR layer 11, nonmagnetic spacer layer 22,
and soft magnetic film layer 20, in that order. The soft
magnetic layer 20 in Krounbi evidently serves the same
function of biasing the MR element as the magnetically soft
material layer 32 in Smith. Krounbi states (col. 4, lines
53-62):
[I]t will be understood by those skilled in the art
that various other changes in the form and details may
be made therein without departing from the spirit and
scope of the invention. For example, the conductor
leads may be placed on the opposite side of the MR
layer, if desired, and the MR sensor may also include
other layers as is known in the art such as biasing
layers, for example. Alternate transverse biasing
techniques such as electrical shunt bias, and
barberpole can also be used in the active region 12 of
the MR sensor 10. [Emphasis added.]
Therefore, the admitted prior art incorporated by reference
into appellant's specification discloses that one of
ordinary skill in the art would have understood that the
layers could be reordered, including, expressly, locating
the conductive leads on the opposite side of the MR layer
from the hard magnetic layer and nonmagnetic spacer layer.
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