Appeal No. 98-0457
Application 08/604,813
parameter that can be varied within certain limits, and that
the overall acceptable moisture transmission rate for a
package used to store and transmit semiconductor wafers is a
parameter that may vary depending, inter alia, on the amount
of time the semiconductor wafers are to be stored in the
package, the moisture content of the surrounding atmosphere,
and the degree of sensitivity to damage from moisture of a
particular semiconductor wafer. That is, the moisture
transmission rate of the packaging materials is result
effective variable. Generally, it is considered to have been
obvious to develop workable or even optimum ranges for such
variables. In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233, 235
(CCPA 1955); In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272, 276, 205 USPQ 215,
219 (CCPA 1980). As stated by the court in In re Woodruff,
919 F.2d 1575, 1578, 16 USPQ2d 1934, 1936 (Fed. Cir. 1990):
The law is replete with cases in which the
difference between the claimed invention and the
prior art is some range or other variable within the
claims . . . . These cases have consistently held
that in such a situation, the applicant must show
that the particular range is critical, generally by
showing that the claimed range achieves unexpected
results relative to the prior art range. [Emphasis
in original; citations omitted].
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