Appeal No. 1997-0375
Application No. 08/287,473
While we appreciate the thoroughness of the examiner in
treating the various issues on appeal, it is our opinion that
Kawano fails to provide the requisite teaching or suggestion
of processing a composition wherein the majority of C and N
are present as a solid solution. As pointed out by
appellants, Kawano specifically teaches that B is included in
the composition in an amount of from 0.002% to about 0.005% in
order to precipitate BN and AlN (column 2, lines 40-52 and
column 5, lines 28-30). Hence, not only does Kawano teach
away from processing a composition wherein the majority of C
and N are present as a solid solution, but Kawano also
emphasizes that the amount of B must be greater than the
amount of B presently claimed and disclosed by appellants.
Although independent claims 1 and 4 do not recite the presence
of B in the composition, and employ the term "comprises" in
defining the composition, the claims cannot be reasonably
interpreted as comprising more than 0.001 wt% of B.
Appellants' dependent claims 2 and 5 are consistent with their
specification disclosure in setting the maximum amount of B at
0.001 wt%. While, as noted by the examiner, page 15 of
appellants' specification states that B may be used in
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