Appeal No. 1997-1140
Application No. 08/175,865
on what the examiner has characterized as "[t]he admitted
prior art at page 2, lines 7-9 and 14-15 of the instant
specification." See Answer, p. 2. The claims on appeal stand
rejected as follows:
(1) Claims 23-26, 28 and 29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C.
§ 102(b) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under
35 U.S.C. § 103 as obvious over the "admitted prior art;" and
(2) Claims 30 and 32-34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §
103 as unpatentable over the "admitted prior art."
Discussion
Claim 23 is directed to a method of etching a CaF surface
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comprising the steps of:
(1) contacting the surface with water; and
(2) irradiating the surface with visible and/or
ultraviolet radiant energy at an intensity sufficient to
produce directional etching of the surface.
According to the examiner (Answer, p. 3):
Applicant admits on page 2 of the specification
that it is known to etch calcium fluoride in water
(lines 7-9), or water and nitric acid (lines 14-15).
The instant claims do not preclude the addition of
etchants such as nitric acid, and do not require any
specific light source. Therefore, these claims are
fully met by the prior art etching techniques which,
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