Appeal No. 2002-0895
Application No. 09/402,552
a spray powder coating of titanium diboride having a low or no
oxygen content, such as that claimed, via the employment of an
inert gas chamber. The spray powder coating of titanium diboride
having the claimed oxygen content would necessarily follow from
the suggestions of the prior art references. See, e.g., Ex parte
Obiaya, 227 USPQ 58, 60 (Bd. Pat. App. & Int. 1985).
The appellants rely on Ananthapadmanabhan to demonstrate
that Boxall does not form a spray powder coating of titanium
diboride having the claimed oxygen content. Specifically, the
appellants state (the Brief, page 4) that:
Ananthapadmanabhan et al[.] (J. Mat. Sci., copy
attached) have shown that partial oxidation could not be
avoided, even when Ar is used as a shield gas. Therefore,
it is not within ordinary skill to modify the process of
Boxall such that high quality coatings as obtainable from
the claimed process herein can be produced (see for example,
specification page 5, lines 29-33 and Page 6, lines 21-36).
The appellants again improperly focus on individual prior
art references. Young, 403 F.2d at 757, 159 USPQ at 728.
Considering the applied prior art references as a whole, as we
must, we determine that the examiner correctly pointed out at
pages 8 and 9 of the Answer that they would not only have
suggested employing a shield gas (argon and hydrogen (reducing
gas)), but have also suggested using an inert gas chamber to
prevent partial oxidation during plasma spraying. The appellants
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