Appeal No. 2003-2136 Page 11
Application No. 09/562,952
obtain a 'firm and durable' bond and not obtain the invention recited in the rejected
claims." (Examiner's Answer at 8.) The appellants argue, "there is no suggestion as to
properties of the molten bond or its constituents, such as the melting point and the
linear expansion coefficient, disclosed in Oshima '98 or Oshima '69 nor discoverable
from routine experimentation based on their teachings." (Appeal Br. at 9.)
a. Claim Construction
Claim 7 recites in pertinent part the following limitations: "radiating a laser beam
on the noble metal chip in a direction substantially perpendicular to an axial direction of
the center electrode, thereby forming a molten bond containing more than 1-weight-
percent noble metal having a melting point in a range from 1,500 to 2,100 °C and a
linear expansion coefficient in a range from 8 x 10-6 to 11 x 10-6/°C between the center
electrode and the noble metal chip." Giving the representative claim its broadest,
reasonable construction, the limitations require that the molten bond formed by laser
welding the noble metal chip to the electrode feature a melting point in a range from
1,500 to 2,100 °C and a linear expansion coefficient in a range from 8 x 10-6 to
11 x 10-6/°C.
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