Appeal No. 2004-0777 Page 5
Application No. 09/731,726
lower than the claimed 0.01 cph/cm2 upon routine experimentation
with a reasonable expectation of success in so doing.
Appellants urge that the applied references do not disclose
or suggest a solder with the claimed .01 cph/cm2 or less alpha
ray amount together with an amount of silver and tin as claimed
being present in the solder. We disagree for reasons as outlined
herein and in the answer.
A specific example showing a solder alloy anticipating the
solder compositional requirements recited in representative claim
1 is not required for the prior art to render the claimed subject
matter unpatentable as obvious to one of ordinary skill in the
art at the time of the invention under § 103(a). In this regard,
it is well settled that the relevance of a prior art reference to
the obviousness conclusion is not confined to preferred or
illustrative embodiments. Rather, a prior art reference may be
relied upon for all that it would have reasonably conveyed to one
having ordinary skill in the art. In re Beattie, 974 F.2d 1309,
1313, 24 USPQ2d 1040, 1043 (Fed. Cir. 1992); In re Young, 927
F.2d 588, 591, 18 USPQ2d 1089, 1091 (Fed. Cir. 1991); Merck &
Co., Inc. v. Biocraft Labs., Inc., 874 F.2d 804, 807, 10 USPQ2d
1843, 1846 (Fed. Cir. 1989).
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