Appeal No. 1998-1480
Application No. 08/741,277
OPINION
We reverse.
The examiner applies Figure 2 of Schwarz to the claims as follows:
Read module 32 is the claimed magnetoresistive transducer having a magnetoresistive layer
(38), a soft adjacent layer identified in column 4, lines 37-52 and a second magnetic layer, shield (46).
As disclosed by Schwarz, the insulating layers (36), (44) and (48) may be made of either diamond-like
carbon or an insulating oxide.
The examiner recognizes that Schwarz does not disclose the insulating layers being both
diamond-like carbon and an oxide. However, the examiner concludes that it would have been obvious
to provide for such a bilayered insulator in Schwarz because the reference discloses these materials as
being equivalents.
We agree with appellants that the mere equivalency of carbon-like diamond and an insulating
oxide for use as insulators would not have provided any incentive for the artisan to employ both of
these materials in a bilayered insulating layer, as claimed.
The examiner counters with the argument that appellants are assuming that there is only one
insulating layer in Schwarz but that there are actually three layers,(36), (44) and (48), two of which are
sandwiched between the first and second magnetic layers. We are unpersuaded by the examiner’s
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