Appeal No. 1997-3339
Application 08/306,610
of reaction with the metal to produce an undesirable carbide
which lowers the strength of the CFRM.
The sole reference relied upon by the examiner which even
discusses milled carbon fibers is Hirai, and this reference
only describes such milled carbon fibers in the background of
the invention section of the patent. Hirai does disclose that
milled carbon fibers which are cut to a size of less than 1 mm
have been used to reinforce thermoplastics. See Hirai at
column 1, lines 33-38. However, for this application, Hirai
indicates that the use of milled carbon fibers have inferior
characteristics because of their extremely short fiber length.
See Hirai at column 1, lines 35 through 38, and lines 54
through 61. Thus, Hirai’s patented and inventive carbon fiber
is directed to carbon fiber chopped strands, not milled carbon
fibers.
To the extent that the examiner addresses the claimed
limitation that appellants’ milled carbon fibers have a cut
surface wherein the plane of the cut and the axis of the fiber
intersect or cross in an angle of 65E to 90E, the examiner
simply states that “the references are deemed to cut at 90E
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