Appeal No. 2003-0273 Page 3
Application No. 09/863,664
Claim 23
A method assembling a disk drive suspension having a microchip
mounted to its rigid portion and a flexible conductor extending along the
rigid portion length, including forming a through opening in said rigid
portion, mounting said microchip in said opening, and electrically
connecting said microchip to said flexible conductor in its through opening-
mounted condition.
The Rejection Under Section 102
Claims 23 and 33 stand rejected as being anticipated by Goss. Anticipation is
established only when a single prior art reference discloses, either expressly or under
the principles of inherency, each and every element of the claimed invention. See In re
Paulsen, 30 F.3d 1475, 1480-1481, 31 USPQ2d 1671, 1675 (Fed. Cir. 1994) and In re
Spada, 911 F.2d 705, 708, 15 USPQ2d 1655, 1657 (Fed. Cir. 1990). We find claim 23
to be anticipated by Goss, and claim 33 not to be so. Our reasoning follows.
Goss is directed to a suspension for supporting a slider carrying a microchip in
operating proximity to a disk. It discloses a two-piece load beam comprising a base 12
that is stiffened over a portion of its length (monocoque region 30) by a shell 31 attached
thereto, so as to create a cavity therebetween (Figure 4). Base 12 is provided with an
opening 51 that is larger than microchip 20 and through which microchip 20 is inserted
into the cavity for installation on the load beam (column 8, lines 39-43). An opening 50
smaller than microchip 20 is provided on shell 31, and the microchip is attached to shell
31 at its edges, which overlap the periphery of opening 50 (column 8, lines 43 and 44).
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