Appeal No. 98-0599
Application 08/434,029
Because one with ordinary skill in the art would have
recognized that Kato’s disk media 16 and control ring 19 can
be made from the same material, the examiner is correct that
it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the
art in view of Kato to form the disk media 16 and control ring
19 as a single-piece substrate. Even the appellant has
stated: “The Examiner’s reasoning about modifying Kato to have
a single-piece substrate might have some force if Kato taught
that the pieces of its multiple-piece disk assembly (i.e.,
disk, control ring and flange) were made of the same
material.”
The appellant further argues that the examiner’s proposed
modification of Kato would render Kato’s system inoperative,
because there is no basis for assuming that the compound
plastic material of Kato’s control ring 19 is a suitable
material for recording data. The argument is misplaced
because, as the examiner has explained, it is only important
that the recording layer deposited on top of the plastic
substrate be suitable for recording data, not the plastic
substrate itself. (Answer at 10). Note that each of
independent claims 31 and 36 recite “a recording layer formed
10
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