Appeal No. 1997-0538
Application No. 08/262,168
in Kim's heat treating step of the gamma titanium aluminide
article producing process would have been obvious to one of
ordinary skill in the art. See In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272,
276, 205 USPQ 215, 219 (CCPA 1980); In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454,
456, 105 USPQ 233, 235 (CCPA 1955).
Appellants argue (Brief, page 16) that:
Kim does not teach the compositional limitations of
claim 2.
As to claims 3 and 4, where the composition is
formulated in "consisting essentially of" language,
Kim et al. does not teach the recited alloy, as it
requires niobuim or tantalum (not present in the
alloy of claim 3) and does not teach the use of
about 0.5-2.0 percent boron (recited in claim 4).
See Kim et al. compositions at col. 3, lines 17-21.
However, Kim discloses, inter alia, titanium aluminide alloys
consisting essentially of about 46 to 49 atomic percent of
aluminum (Al), about 1 to 3 atomic percent of chromium (Cr),
about 2 to 6 atomic percent of niobium (Nb) and about 0.05 to
2.0 atomic percent of boron (B). See column 3, lines 10-21.
These particular alloys are included in the limited number of
alloys which can be identified from the formula described in
Kim. Id. Accordingly, we determine that the selection of
these alloys from the limited number of alloys described in
15
Page: Previous 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007