Appeal No. 2001-0106
Application 08/855,811
The Examiner notes that it is his view that “the teachings of the references clearly
suggest doing (and do) what appellants have done (i.e. WRT the use of an
(organosilane) adhesion promoter/coupling agent between a metal substrate and a
resin adhesive)” (Examiner’s Answer, page 8, lines 18-20). “[I]t is the sum total of the
teachings of the applied combined references taken as a whole which is held/seen to
render appellants invention obvious to one of ordinary skill in this art” (Id., page 9, lines
6 – 8).
We agree with the Examiner. Although the Appellant has repeatedly stated in
briefs that the prior art is devoid of teachings of electrical resistance improvement
obtained by organosilanes, we are compelled to disagree. One of skill in the art should
be familiar with coupling agents generally and their benefits; and that same hypothetical
person of skill in the art would also recognize the importance of the statement at column
1, lines 32-38 of Hahn “By far the most prevalent and widely studied adhesion aids for
increasing the adhesion of polymers to inorganic surfaces are the organosilanes (see,
for example the comprehensive work on organosilanes in Pleuddemann, Organic
Coupling Agents, Plenum Press, 233 Spring Street New York, N.Y. (1982).”
Further contributing to the hypothetical person of skill in the art’s knowledge are
US Patents 4,568,602 (Stow) and 4,569,877 (Tollefson).
Stow utilizes an organosilane coupling agent (column 4, lines 41-42) to give
bonds exhibiting high durability during prolonged exposure to high humidity (column 4,
lines 36-37) which achieve a stable, low resistance bond for the length of time and
under the operating conditions that are expected (column 1, lines 30-31) for electronic
equipment electrical connections (column 1, lines 13-15). The preferred embodiment is
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