Appeal No. 2003-1970 Page 2
Application No. 09/586,526
INTRODUCTION
Claim 15, the broadest independent claim, is illustrative of the subject matter on appeal:
15. An orifice plate for an ink-jet pen comprising:
a plate having a first surface and an opposing second surface;
a plurality of spaced-apart orifices, each of which extends directly through the plate
between the first surface and the second surface to define an inlet and an outlet on the first
surface and the second surface respectively; and
an exposed coating of a precious metal-polymer alloy over at least portions of the second
surface surrounding the outlets.
All the claims are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as obvious. As evidence of
obviousness, the Examiner relies upon the following prior art references:
Aylward et al. (Aylward)3,616,286Oct. 26, 1971
Bestel et al. (Bestel ) 4,033,833 Jul. 5, 1977
Matson 4,436,595 Mar. 13, 1984
Naoto et al. (Naoto)2 07-052,382 Feb. 28, 1995
(Japanese Published Application)
Claims 15-22 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable over Naoto
in view of Aylward. Bestel and Matson are added to reject claims 23-26, 32, and 33.
We reverse all the rejections. Our reasons follow.
2The Examiner and Appellants refer to this document as JP ‘382. We refer to it as Naoto. All citations to
this document are to the English translation of record.
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