Appeal No. 1998-1661 Application No. 08/409,244 The examiner also contends that it is not clear that simply passing the MO beam through the Yb-doped gain medium will produce the claimed MOPA system or that a Nd-doped gain medium and a Yb-doped medium inherently possess a gain maximum at substantially the same wavelength, or that the Nd-doped gain medium inherently has a gain cross section higher than the Yb-doped gain medium or that the Yb-doped gain medium inherently has a longer energy storage time than the Nd-doped gain medium. It is not clear to the examiner how these desired results are achieved. We have some difficulty with the examiner’s reasoning here. The claim does not say that the Nd-doped gain medium and the Yb-doped gain medium “inherently” possess a gain maximum at substantially the same wavelength or that the Nb- doped gain medium “inherently” possesses a gain cross section higher than the Yb-doped gain medium or that the Yb-doped gain medium “inherently” has a longer energy storage time than the Nd-doped gain medium. That is, the claim does not recite or imply that all Nd- or Yb-doped gain media have these properties. As appellants explain, at page 12 of the brief, the claim recites those embodiments, or combinations, of Nd- -6-Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 NextLast modified: November 3, 2007