Appeal No. 1996-3806
Application 08/183,152
23-30). The substrate has a cobalt enriched zone which has a
depth which may reach 50-75F and is produced by sintering the
substrate in the presence of nitrogen (col. 3, lines 33-35;
col. 3, line 56 - col. 4, line 1). This sintering also causes
the cobalt enriched surface zone to be depleted in the B-1
cubic phase (col. 3, lines 48-51; col. 4, lines 1-3; col. 4,
lines 35-38).
The examiner argues that the although Hale’s cubic phase
depleted substrate surface zone is not produced by coating as
recited in appellant’s claim 1, it is a distinct layer which
can have a thickness within appellant’s recited range and
which contains no cubic carbides (answer, pages 2-3).
Consequently, the examiner argues, Hale’s substrate meets the
limitations of that claim. See id. Appellant argues that one
of ordinary skill in the art would have interpreted “depleted”
to mean lessened rather than completely removed (reply brief,
page 3). The examiner responds that appellant has not
provided factual evidence that cubic carbides are present in
Hale’s substrate surface layer (supplemental answer (paper no.
-4-4
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007