Appeal No. 2002-1502
Application No. 09/388,885
free path and consequently reduces the magnetoresistive effect
(delta R/R).” (Page 8 of brief, last paragraph).
Hence, although Dahlberg discloses a thickness range for the
free layer which somewhat overlaps the claimed range, we find
that Dahlberg, considered in its entirety, would not have
motivated one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the MTJ
sensor of the admitted prior art to arrive at the claimed
invention taken as a whole. While the examiner states that “[a]s
any one of ordinary skill in the art would have known at the time
the invention was made, the characteristics of AMR, Spin Valve
(SV) and MTJ MR sensors include well-known layer structures which
have been mirrored in each type of sensor due to the similar
sensing features each layer structure produces”, this does not
address appellant’s argument that the sensors of the claimed
invention and Dahlberg sense current flows in different planes
and, therefore, involve different design considerations.
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