Appeal No. 1999-1190
Application 08/481,367
direct ejection of laser-generated melt pool liquid from the
surface.
For the above reasons we conclude that the examiner has
not carried the burden of establishing a prima facie case of
obviousness of the invention recited in any of the appellants’
claims over Wu in view of EPA ‘646.
Rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 103 over
Boquillon in view of EPA ‘646
Boquillon discloses a method for cleaning pollutants from
a surface by applying to the surface laser pulses having a
duration between some nanoseconds and some microseconds and a
peak power density between some tenths of megawatts/cm and2
some tens of megawatts/cm (abstract; col. 3, lines 1-6). The2
wavelength of the radiation emitted by the laser is within the
spectrum of absorption of the polluting material, and the
spectrum of absorption of the polluting material is different
from that of the subjacent material to a sufficient extent
that the risk of altering the subjacent material is virtually
nonexistent (col. 3, lines 7-18 and 22-44).
The examiner argues that Boquillon’s power density and
pulse duration ranges encompass the appellants’ 6 MW/cm power2
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