The opinion in support of the decision being entered today was not written for publication and is not binding precedent of the Board.
Paper No. 29
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
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BEFORE THE BOARD OF PATENT APPEALS
AND INTERFERENCES
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Ex parte TSUNETOSHI GOTOU and NOBUO ABE
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Appeal No. 2003-2136
Application No. 09/562,952
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HEARD: March 17, 2004
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Before HAIRSTON, MARTIN, and BARRY, Administrative Patent Judges.
BARRY, Administrative Patent Judge.
DECISION ON APPEAL
A patent examiner rejected claims 7-17. The appellants appeal therefrom under
35 U.S.C. § 134(a). We affirm-in-part.
BACKGROUND
The invention at issue on appeal is a method for manufacturing a spark plug for
an internal combustion engine; the spark plug includes a noble metal chip bonded on
the tip of a center electrode. (Spec. at 1.) Laser welding is used to bond the noble
metal chip to the center electrode. More specifically, a laser beam having a high energy
density is focused on a junction of the chip and the electrode. The noble metal of the
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