Appeal No. 1998-2325
Application 08/484,114
is not sufficient.” Ex parte Skinner, 2 USPQ2d 1788, 1789 (Bd.
Pat. App. & Int. 1986). The examiner has not provided the
required evidence or technical reasoning, but, rather, has
improperly relied upon the possibility that Iwahara’s sintered
oxide is a multi-phase mixture.
The examiner argues that Iwahara’s platinum electrodes,
which are formed by smearing platinum powder paste on both ends
of the samples and then firing the samples, are porous because
they allow oxygen to pass through, as evidenced by the title of
the publication (answer, page 5). The title of the publication,
however, pertains to oxygen permeation in ZrO2-Tb4O7, not in
platinum electrodes. Thus, the examiner’s argument is not
supported by the relied-upon evidence.
For the above reasons we conclude that the examiner has not
carried the burden of establishing a prima facie case of
anticipation of the claimed invention by Iwahara. Accordingly,
we reverse the rejection over this reference.
Rejection over Hazbun
Hazbun discloses (col. 2, lines 57-65)
a novel two-layer membrane in which one layer is an
impervious mixed ion and electronic conducting ceramic
such as yttria stabilized zirconis [sic] which is doped
with sufficient CeO2 or titanium dioxide to impart
electron conducting characteristics to the ceramic. A
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