Appeal No. 1998-1628
Application No. 08/384,597
The examiner further asserts (Final Rejection, page 3)
that the ratio M/N would have been obvious because "it is a
variable of art recognized importance which is subject to
routine experimentation and optimization and discovery of an
optimum value for a known apparatus is obvious." However,
optimization is only obvious for result effective variables,
and the examiner has provided no evidence that the ratio of
M/N is such a result effective variable. See In re Boesch,
617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980).
The examiner contends (Final Rejection, page 3) that
Ogata suggests adjusting the ratio according to the materials
deposited. However, Ogata provides no guidance as to how one
would select a ratio of evaporation atoms to ions. Further,
the examiner (Final Rejection, page 3-4) points to the range
of 3 to 200 in Ando, which overlaps the claimed range, for the
ratio of evaporation atoms to ions and asserts that it would
have been obvious to set the ratio in Suzuki to within such a
range "because better quality film is produced." However, as
with the energy range, since Ando is directed to strengthening
a deposited aluminum layer, we find no motivation for applying
Ando's disclosed range to Suzuki's formation of an
7
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007