Appeal No. 1996-2086
Application 08/255,588
line 33) would have suggested to one of ordinary skill in the art, a method of impurity
gettering comprising providing a substrate with solid gettering material on the surface and
heating said substrate and gettering material to a
temperature greater than, or within 150EC of, the melting point of said gettering material,
cooling said substrate and gettering material, and removing said gettering material from
the surface of said substrate.
Similarly, the examiner should consider whether the teachings of Schaake as to the
heating of a substrate (an HgCdTe alloy) with the solid gettering material tellurium (melting
point 449.5EC) to a temperature of less than 450EC, preferably about 280EC, would have
suggested to one of ordinary skill in the art, a method of impurity gettering comprising
providing a substrate with solid gettering material on the surface and heating said
substrate and gettering material to a temperature greater than, or within 150EC of, the
melting point of said gettering material, cooling said substrate and gettering material, and
removing said gettering material from the surface of said substrate.
In making these considerations, the examiner should clearly set forth, on the record,
any findings of fact and any reasons for concluding that the claimed invention would have
been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art. We remind the examiner that it is the
responsibility of this tribunal to review his factual findings and conclusions of law, and not to
examine the case in the first instance and to formulate a rejection based on the references
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