Appeal No. 2004-1144
Application No. 09/584,765
based on Suzuki’s disclosure of a generic intermetallic alloy
formula which includes the expression “Ni50Al” (e.g., see lines
36 and 56 in column 2). On the other hand, the examiner urges
that this expression, though inapt, would have been understood by
those skilled in this art as referring to intermetallic alloys
which contain equal amounts of Ni and Al, that is, Ni50Al50.
In support of his position, the examiner points out that
Suzuki’s intermetallic alloys are formed by adding various
elements to the prior art alloy AlNi which indisputably contains
equal amounts of Al and Ni (e.g., see lines 6-42 in column 2).
As more fully explained in the answer, the examiner’s position is
further supported by the fact that the lattice constant disclosed
by Suzuki for Ni50Al (e.g., see lines 18-19 in column 6 and lines
20-21 in column 7) is exactly the same as the lattice constant
for NiAl (e.g., see lines 26-27 in column 13 of Lambeth). This
position is additionally supported by the fact that Suzuki also
has used inapt nomenclature in defining other aspects of his
intermetallic alloys (e.g., see the examiner’s discussion on page
12 of the final Office action mailed April 30, 2002 as Paper No.
14).4
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4 We commend the examiner’s considerable efforts to explain
the manner in which Suzuki’s sometimes inapt disclosure would
(continued...)
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