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-
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