Appeal No. 1998-2948
Application 08/400,861
method provides superior results over aluminum alloys
containing tantalum, which is the closest prior art (RBr2;
2dSRBr3).
The rejection is over Kiyota in view of the secondary
references. Thus, the discussion of aluminum/tantalum alloys
is not relevant. It is sufficient that one of ordinary skill
in the art would have been motivated to substitute an
aluminum/rare earth element alloy for the aluminum alloy in
Kiyota to achieve low specific resistivity to shorten the
delay time, which is one of the goals of Appellants' method
(e.g., specification, p. 5). The combination need not teach
the properties of the anodic oxidation film, which are, in any
case, not claimed.
It is argued that breakdown voltage varies in a nonlinear
fashion with anodic oxidation film thickness and this
relationship was not recognized by the prior art (Br9; Br10).
Appellants argue that they have demonstrated the benefits of
an anodic oxidation film having a thickness of 200 Å or more
(RBr3-4).
The breakdown voltage characteristic is not claimed, nor
are any physical properties of the anodic oxidation film
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