Appeal No. 1999-2611
Application No. 08/808,537
examples of the p-type III-V compound semiconductor
material upon which an alloy is formed as “GaAs, G a P,
GaAsP, InSb, GaSb, InP, InGaAsP, and the like.” The
Examiner takes the position (Answer, page 4) that,
although the specific claimed III-V compound is not
explicitly disclosed by Tonai, the language “and the
like” used by Tonai in describing the composition of the
III-V compounds anticipates the nitride containing III-V
compound set forth in Appellants’ claims.
After reviewing the arguments of record, we are in
agreement with Appellants’ position as stated in the
Brief. In our view, there is no convincing evidence of
record that the specific claimed nitride containing III-V
compound semiconductor could be predicted as being part
of the disclosure of Tonai merely because of the presence
of Tonai’s “and the like” language. Accordingly, since
all of the claim limitations are not present in the
disclosure of Tonai, the Examiner’s 35 U.S.C. § 102(b)
rejection of appealed claims 1 and 2 is not sustained.
Turning to a consideration of the Examiner’s
alternative rejection of claims 1 and 2 under 35 U.S.C.
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