Appeal No. 2006-1058
Application No. 10/034,073
representing the grating lines" (page 8 of principal brief,
penultimate paragraph). Obviously, the draftsman for the Kataoka
figures could have selected any of a number of shapes for the
grating lines other than the half sinusoidal wave depicted. That
the reference illustrates a half sinusoidal wave is the best
evidence that one of ordinary skill in the art would find a
description of the claimed grating in Kataoka. While appellants
contend that the figures of Kataoka "could reasonably be
interpreted by one with ordinary skill in the art as showing
something other than a half-sinusoidal shaped groove in a
grating" (paragraph bridging pages 8 and 9 of principal brief),
appellants have not established what "something other" the
skilled artisan would understand upon viewing the reference
figures and the supporting specification. Stated otherwise,
appellants have not provided evidentiary support for their
argument that one of ordinary skill in the art would interpret
the relevant figures of Kataoka in a manner different than that
actually depicted.
We now turn to the examiner's § 102 rejection of claims 3,
5, 8 and 9 over Imamura. We agree with the examiner that Figures
1a and 1c depict a grating having a groove cross shape in the
form of a half sawtooth wave, as well as a groove bottom part
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