Appeal No. 2002-1464
Application No. 09/213,710
engine part with a base layer of chromium and chromium nitride
surface layer to improve durability, wear, and scuff resistance
(column 1, lines 20 through 36). The patent to Little teaches
tungsten carbide as a wear resistance layer for a screw press.
Simply stated, we share appellants’ view that the claimed
subject matter would not have been obvious based upon the
teachings relied upon by the examiner. The patent to Djordjevic
expressly discloses a plunger for a fuel injection pump that is
fabricated from a wear resistant steel alloy. Clearly, Djordjevic
lacks a teaching of the now claimed features of a low alloy steel
substrate, a coating, and a coating thickness in the range of
between about 0.5 and 5.0 microns. Considering the particular
Djordjevic teaching and the distinct teachings of Tsuchiya,
Young, and Little, we disagree with the examiner that these
applied references, by themselves, would have been suggestive of
reworking the Djordjevic plunger as proposed to yield the claimed
subject matter. As we see it, only reliance upon impermissible
hindsight would have enabled one to selectively apply the
references before us to achieve the claimed invention. For the
preceding reasons, each of the examiner’s obviousness rejections
cannot be sustained.
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