Appeal No. 1996-3262
Application No. 08/141,632
cited references to make these non-trivial changes.
Finally, Appellants argue35 that there is no teaching of
record motivating a person of ordinary skill in the art to use a
diamond layer for fluid contact in a fluid sensor, and that
diamond has the unobvious advantage of being sturdy, resistant to
fluid contact even in cases where the fluid is corrosive, and a
good conductor of heat for sensing purposes.
The Examiner points out36 that Kimoto et al discloses making
a semiconductor diode with a diamond film (2) and a resistor (3),
including a diamond film having a resistor provided on one
surface of the film and a substrate on the other surface. He
notes that Nakahata et al discloses a diamond film (31), a
resistor (32) provided on one surface and the second surface
being a terminal surface of crystal growth.
Cole is noted to disclose a solid-state anemometer with a
thick film microcircuit for measuring fluid using a pair of zener
diodes wherein one is exposed to the flowing fluid. The zener
diode chips are bonded to a ceramic substrate. Olmstead and
35
35 Supplemental Reply Brief, page 4
36
36 Supplemental Examiner's Answer mailed August 20, 1996,
page 2; Supplemental Examiner's Answer mailed December 26, 1996,
pages 1 and 2
20
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