Appeal No. 2004-2148
Application No. 09/362,397
This claim, rejected as obvious from Challener in view of Kim,
called for the method of claim[s] 91 [or 92], with a dielectric
layer system of at least one layer, where this layer system has
an optical thickness which, at least in a first approximation, is
m.8o/4, where m is an uneven integer of at least unity and
where 8o is the wavelength of the radiation which is
transmitted through the dielectric layer. Here, the thickness of
a critical pad (or all) of the intermediate layer is set in terms of
the wavelength of the reading or writing radiation (light) for at
least the inner information layer. Neither Challener nor Kim
suggest this requirement so that their combination can not
supply the missing feature in any obvious way.
(Brief, p. 35).
Challener discloses an information carrier comprising at least two
solid material interfaces and an intermediate layer that can comprise a
silicon nitride material. Challener discloses the intermediate layer can
have a thickness of 10 to 150nm. (Col. 4, ll. 67-68). However, Challener
does not describe the characteristics of the layer specified by the claimed
invention and the method of producing the intermediate layer.
A person of ordinary skill in the art preforming the invention of
Challener, i.e., forming an information carrier comprising an intermediate
layer with a thickness in the disclosed range of 10-150nm would have been
practicing the claimed invention. Cf. Mehl/Biophile Int’l Corp. v. Milgraum,
192 F.3d 1362, 1366, 52 USPQ2d 1303, 1307 (Fed. Cir. 1999) (“Where, as here,
the result is a necessary consequence of what was deliberately intended, it
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