Appeal No. 1997-2074 Page 4
Application No. 08/292,634
meaning of 35 U.S.C. 103. We disagree. Appellant has a
specific purpose for the recitations of the relative
thicknesses and impedance matching. The specifically claimed
transducer structure and its attendant dimensional
relationships between elements enables a desired electrical
impedance matching and acoustic impedance matching, in a
relatively small package, important for use in the medical
field. The structural relationships claimed are more than a
mere design choice or optimization. They have been chosen by
appellant for a very specific, desirable purpose and the
examiner has provided no evidence that the instant invention is
no more than an optimization of known variables for a known
purpose.
While there are many discrepancies between the instant
claimed subject matter and the disclosure of Kleinschmidt, just
the fact, taken alone, that Kleinschmidt discloses a polymer
layer whose thickness is greater than that of the wafer, which
is the reverse of what is claimed by appellant, is enough for
us to find that the examiner’s rejection of the claims under 35
U.S.C. 103 is improper.
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007