Appeal No. 2002-2142 Page 10
Application No. 09/276,858
Wukusick. Under the circumstances of this case, it is fair to shift the burden to Appellants to
prove that the claimed reduction in scale or grain recrystallization is not obtained when following
the preferred embodiments of Wukusick. See Best, 562 F.2d at 1255, 195 USPQ at 432-33.
Appellants have not provided any objective evidence sufficient to meet their burden.
Obviousness
Wukusick discloses the formation of single crystal cast articles of nickel base superalloys
containing the elements required by the claims. With regard to the claims reciting concentration
ranges for elements other than carbon, those ranges are encompassed by the ranges of the base
alloy of Wukusick (Table I). The concentration range of carbon in the base alloy overlaps the
claimed range. A prima facie case of obviousness typically exists when the ranges of a claimed
composition encompass and/or overlap the ranges disclosed in the prior art. E.g., In re Peterson,
315 F.3d 1325, 1329, 65 USPQ2d 1379, 1382 (Fed. Cir. 2003); In re Geisler, 116 F.3d 1465,
1469, 43 USPQ2d 1362, 1365 (Fed. Cir. 1997); In re Woodruff, 919 F.2d 1575, 1578, 16
USPQ2d 1934, 1936-37 (CCPA 1976); In re Malagari, 499 F.2d 1297, 1303, 182 USPQ 549,
553 (CCPA 1974). In addition, even though the base of alloy of Wukusick is described as
including anywhere from 0 to 0.07 wt. % carbon, Wukusick provides reasons for including small
controlled amounts of carbon to increase grain boundary strength (Wukusick at col. 9, ll. 1-20).
This provides a motivation for including concentrations of carbon above zero.
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