Appeal No. 2000-0673
Application No. 08/960,276
McNamara. The 3-volt potential would naturally result from
following the above-quoted teachings of Vieth that working at
low voltages is desirable, and that "[v]oltages for a given
application can be readily determined by simple trial and
error" (col. 6, lines 1 to 3). It is well settled that
"discovery of an optimum value of a result effective variable
in a known process is ordinarily within the skill of the art."
In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272, 276, 205 USPQ 215, 219 (CCPA
1980). Appellants have submitted no evidence to show that the
claimed 3-volt potential gives results which are "unexpectedly
good." Id.
The examiner has cited Shirkanzadeh for its disclosure of
a potential of 3 volts (col. 2, lines 35 to 37), but although
the electrolyte may contain collagen (col. 3, line 12), the
purpose of the process disclosed by Shirkanzadeh is, as
appellants point out, the electrodeposition of ceramic
coatings, such as oxide and phosphate coatings. In any event,
however, we consider Shirkanzadeh to be essentially
superfluous to the rejection of claim 58 for the reasons
enumerated in the preceding paragraph.
Finally, on page 11 of the brief, appellants contend that
7
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007