Appeal No. 97-0866
Application 07/801,248
Winterberg (1975) discloses an annular laser beam in a
vacuum (page 977); it does not disclose that the laser beam
generates a "plasma channel in a gas" through which the
electron beam passes. Winterberg (1975) discloses that the
annular laser beam is focused on the target a short time
before the electron beam and forms a narrow convergent
annular plasma channel (page 977) after which the electron
beam transforms the target into a highly conducting plasma
(page 979). The electron beam is confined by the plasma and
is focused down to a small diameter as it approaches the
vertex point (page 979). Therefore, Winterberg (1975) does
not teach "creating a plasma channel in a gas" or injecting
an electron beam into the plasma channel. Further, the
electron beam in Winterberg (1975) is pinched by the plasma
created by the annular laser beam and is not pinched because
of a net current as recited in the claims. The rejection
starts based on a number of erroneous findings.
Winterberg (1975) states that it is possible "to
abandon electron beams altogether and instead use intense
ion beams" (page 3). The examiner states that it would have
been obvious to modify Winterberg (1975) to use a positive
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