Appeal No. 2001-2449
Application No. 08/637,802
We affirm this ground of rejection essentially for the reasons well
stated by the examiner in the Answer and the reasons set forth
below.
OPINION
The examiner finds that Bernhard discloses a reduced fire
scale silver-copper alloy where the amounts of each component
overlap with those recited in claim 1 on appeal, with the exception
that Bernhard does not teach the use of germanium (Answer, pages 5-
6). The examiner finds that Rateau teaches the addition of 0.5 to
3% by weight germanium to a silver-copper alloy to improve the
hardness of the resulting composition (Answer, page 6). From these
findings, the examiner concludes that it would have been obvious to
one of ordinary skill in the art to add germanium to the alloy of
Bernhard for improved hardness as taught by Rateau (id.). We
agree.
Appellant argues that the combination of references does not
teach the addition of trace amounts of germanium to a complex
silver alloy (Brief, paragraph bridging pages 4-5). Appellant
argues that Rateau teaches only the use of “large quantities of
germanium” in a silver-copper alloy comprised of only the two base
metals silver and copper (Brief, page 5).
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