Appeal No. 2001-0773
Application No. 09/200,421
range for a period of 6 hours. Also, Rzywucki sinters in an
atmosphere of hydrogen, desiccated ammonia or vacuum at a
temperature higher than 1700°C over a period of 1 to 5 hours (see
page 5 of translation). Similarly, JP '946 is calcined at 1000°C
and then sintered for 1-8 hours at 1700°-1800°C in a vapor atmos-
phere (page 10 of translation, penultimate paragraph). Finally,
Bennison takes more than an hour to increase the temperature from
1000°C to 1650°C, which temperature is held for an hour.
As a result, it can be seen that none of the applied
references employs a sintering protocol that is substantially the
same as the one utilized by appellants. Accordingly, there is no
factual basis for concluding that the ceramic bodies prepared by
the prior art processes would be reasonably expected to possess
the same surface characteristics claimed by appellants. At best,
it might be said that one of ordinary skill in the art could
operate within the boundaries of the prior art processes and
obtain the claimed amount of surface area occupied by unsintered
particles. But absent the requisite motivation to do so, and the
examiner has not furnished such motivation, such a result would
occur by happenstance only. It is by now axiomatic that
inherency must be established by inevitability, not probabilities
or possibilities.
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