Appeal No. 1999-2611
Application No. 08/808,537
“Response to argument” portion of the Answer, the
Examiner makes reference to the Watabe reference, which
discloses a GaN substrate as part of a semiconductor
light emitting element, as purportedly providing evidence
that Tonai’s “and the like” language would include a
nitride containing III-V compound. As this reference is
not part of the Examiner’s rejection of the appealed
claims, we decline to rule on the merits of its
applicability to the issues to be decided in this appeal.
We would point out, however, that the mere existence of a
single claimed element in a prior art reference would be
unlikely, in the absence of supporting evidence, to be
dispositive of the issues of anticipation and obviousness
in claims drawn to a combination of elements.
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