Appeal No. 2002-0912 Page 10
Application No. 08/913,187
Claim 8 adds to independent claim 7 the requirement that there be an
intermediate layer for enhancing adhesion interposed between the carburized layer and
the hard carbon film, and claim 9 that the intermediate layer have an upper layer and a
lower layer. In rejecting claims 8 and 9, the examiner has added Yoshino to the
references applied against claim 7, on the basis that Yoshino teaches it is well known in
the art to provide such an intermediate layer. The response by the appellants is only
that these references are deficient for the same reasons as previously were presented
with regard to the other rejections. Claim 1 sets forth the intermediate layer presented
in claim 8, and we agreed with the examiner in sustaining that rejection that the
interposition of an intermediate layer to enhance adhesion between the inner surface of
the guide bush and the hard carbon film placed thereon would have been obvious.
Claim 3 included the two-layer intermediate layer presented in claim 9, and we also
sustained the rejection of that claim. For the same reasons as were set forth in those
cases, we will sustain the rejection of claims 8 and 9.
CONCLUSION
All of the rejections are sustained.
The decision of the examiner is affirmed.
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