Appeal No. 2005-0711 Application No. 09/943,644 According to appellants, the invention is directed to a method for making an optical device, including the steps of providing a perfluorocyclobutane(PFCB)-based copolymer composition, coating this composition upon a substrate to form a first film, thermally curing this first film to form a substantially transparent polymeric core, and coating a cladding layer on the surface of the first film, where the cladding layer may also be a PFCB-based copolymer material (Brief, pages 2-3). A copy of illustrative independent claim 16 is reproduced below: 16. A method of making an optical device, comprising: (a) providing a perfluorocyclobutyl-based copolymer composition having a solids content of greater than 50%, (b) coating the perfluorocyclobutyl-based copolymer composition upon a substrate to form a first film, (c) thermally curing the first film to form a thermoset film, in which the thermoset film comprises a substantially transparent polymeric core of an optical waveguide, and (d) coating a second composition on the outer surface of the first film to form a second film, in which the second film is a clad of the optical waveguide. The examiner has relied upon the following references as evidence of obviousness: Kennedy et al. (Kennedy) 5,246,782 Sep. 21, 1993 Babb et al. (Babb) 5,426,164 Jun. 20, 1995 Shacklette et al. (Shacklette) 5,850,498 Dec. 15, 1998 2Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 NextLast modified: November 3, 2007