Appeal No. 1997-4072
Application 08/226,010
is discussed in the first declaration of Arup K. Ghosh and
Arthur F. Greene, who we find to be of at least ordinary
skill in the art.
Accordingly, because the combination of references
fails to demonstrate the obviousness of these two
differences, the rejection of claims 1-7 is reversed.
Indefiniteness
The Examiner concludes that "only negligible diffusion
of nickel into the matrix metal" is not clear because it is
not known what constitutes "negligible diffusion" (FR2).
Appellant provides a second declaration by Ghosh and
Greene in Exhibit A to the brief which states (para. 3):
"The word 'negligible' is understood by anyone skilled in
the art as not being capable of being detected by a Scanning
Electron Microscope (SEM) at the thicknesses below ten (10)
nanometers. Accordingly, the outside surface of the wire
would have no Cu-Ni alloy formation."
The Examiner's Answer does not respond to the
declaration.
We conclude that Appellant has proved that "negligible"
has a meaning that is understood by those of ordinary skill
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