Appeal 2006-2179
Application 10/735,369
on atomic weight. We observe that Ackerman ‘633 teaches at paragraph
0032 that:
The sintering inhibitor slows and preferably prevents the
sintering process which reduces and eventually eliminates the
gaps 50. The sintering inhibitor is a reaction product, which
may or may not be a stoichiometric chemical compound, of the
thermal barrier coating material and an inhibitor precursor
material that is added to the thermal barrier coating 46 after its
deposition. The inhibitor precursor material preferably includes
an inhibitor element selected from the group consisting of
barium, strontium, tantalum, lanthanum, neodymium,
gadolinium, niobium, and mixtures thereof, so that the
sintering inhibitor is a compound of one or more of these
inhibitor elements. (Emphasis added.)
Of the seven preferred precursors listed, niobium and tantalum are from
Group 5 of the Periodic Table and the remaining five preferred elements are
from Group 2 or 3 of the Periodic Table. They, like the Appellants’
stabilization composition, are used to inhibit sintering as indicated supra.
Thus, we concur with the Examiner that the Ackerman ‘633 disclosure
would have led one of ordinary skill in the art to employ specifically
mentioned Groups 2, 3 and 5 elements individually or in mixtures inclusive
of the claimed mixture, motivated by a reasonable expectation of
successfully providing an effective sintering inhibition property. Merck &
Co. v. Biocraft Laboratories Inc., 874 F.2d 804, 807, 10 USPQ2d 1843,
1846 (Fed. Cir.), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 975 (1989); In re Peterson,
315 F.3d 1325, 1329, 65 USPQ2d `1379, 1382 (Fed. Cir. 2003).
Similarly, we observe that Subramanian teaches at column 5, lines
43-66, that:
The overlay layer 32 is deposited as a precursor coating
on top of the underlying base layer 28 via a process that allows
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