Appeal No. 1996-3262
Application No. 08/141,632
has good thermal response, good heat resistance and is chemically
stable at higher temperatures.
In response to Appellants' arguments37 that there is no
suggestion that Nakahata's device would be useful as a component
of a fluid sensor, the Examiner finds that this use is nothing
more than using the device for sensing temperature of the fluid,
and sensing temperature of any object would have been obvious to
a skilled artisan. Since Miura et al, Cole and Olmstead teach
using a semiconductor device for sensing or measuring fluid flow,
and the kind of semiconductor device used depends on requirements
of reliability and accuracy, the use of a reliable diamond
semiconductor for sensing fluid flow would have been an obvious
alternative to other semiconductors. It is asserted that the
test for obviousness is what the combined teachings of the
references would have suggested to those of ordinary skill in the
art and that this test has been met for the reasons set forth
above.
Here again, we note that we must first determine the scope
of the claim. "[T]he name of the game is the claim.”
In re Hiniker Co., supra.
37
37 Supplemental Examiner's Answer mailed December 26, 1996,
pages 1 and 2
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