Appeal No. 2002-0258
Application No. 09/254,402
I. The Rejection of Claims 11, 13-17, 19, and 20 under 35
U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable over Liu in view of Garzon
The examiner has found that Liu discloses a solid electrolyte
sensor having a cathode separated from a porous diffusion barrier
having a diffusion pinhole by an insulating layer. (Examiner’s
Answer, page 3, lines 13-16). The examiner has additionally found
that Garzon discloses that a mixed ion conductor is well-known to
be used for separating oxygen from other gas components
(Examiner’s Answer, page 3, lines 21-22).
The examiner concludes that it would have been obvious to one
of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to
use a mixed ion conductor as the diffusion layer barrier because
Garzon teaches the mixed ion conductor diffuses oxygen slowly and
improves sensor performance (Examiner’s Answer, page 4, lines 4-
8).
The appellants, on the other hand, assert that Claim 11
recites that the cathode is separated from the gas mixture by the
selective oxygen-ion-conductive layer and the electrically
nonconductive layer; while Liu is said to teach direct gas contact
with the electrode, and the art generally fails to teach the
claimed arrangement of layers. (Appeal Brief, page 7, lines 17-
21).
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