Appeal No. 1996-3770 Page 8
Application No. 08/412,834
to obtain a product with a bending formability (R/T) of 2 in a
parallel and perpendicular direction (Comparative Example 3,
columns 3 and 4) and that a bending formability of (R/T) as low
as 1 may be obtained in at least one direction when employing a
composition with a lower beryllium content that is annealed at
900°C (1652°F) (Example 5 and claim 1). However, the examiner
has not furnished any convincing reasons explaining how
Ikushima would have taught or suggested to one skilled in the
art to use a higher beryllium content copper alloy as claimed
herein together with lower
temperatures for annealing and cold working and aging in the
range claimed to obtain an alloy with the specific formability
properties called for by the subject process.
With regard to the applied Sawyer reference, we note that
this patent's teachings are even further removed from the
claimed process. In this regard, the examiner has not
furnished a convincing explanation of why a skilled artisan
would have been led to pick a particular alloy composition
within the broader range of compositions disclosed in the
patent and use a lower annealing temperature than otherwise
suggested in the patent along with cold working and aging
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