Appeals 2006-2874 and 2006-2747 Applications 08/544,212 and 09/287,664 Patent 5,401,305 1 D. Findings of fact on obviousness 2 The following findings are believed to be supported by a 3 preponderance of the evidence. 4 5 Examiner's obviousness rejection 6 In Appeal 2006-2747, the Examiner also rejected claims 28-32 as 7 being unpatentable under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) over the prior art. 8 In particular, the Examiner rejected claims 28-32 as being 9 unpatentable over (1) Lagendijk (U.S. Patent 5,028,566) in view of 10 (2) Gordon (U.S. Patent 4,308,316). 11 Gordon is prior art under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b), having issued more than 12 one year prior to the filing date of the application which matured into the 13 patent sought to be reissued. 14 Lagendijk is prior art under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) vis-à-vis the filing 15 date of the application which matured into the patent sought to be reissued. 16 Appellants also claim benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 120 of two earlier 17 applications, the earliest of which was filed on 27 December 1991. 18 Assuming without deciding that Appellants are entitled to an effective filing 19 date of 27 December 1991, Lagendijk is nevertheless prior art under 20 35 U.S.C. §102(e). The filing date of the application which matured into the 21 Lagendijk patent was filed on 27 July 1990. Appellants have made no 22 attempt to antedate Lagendijk. Accordingly, for the purpose of deciding this 23 appeal, Lagendijk is prior art. 24 The Examiner also observed—correctly—that the prior art relied upon 25 is "representative of a large body of art disclosing CVD [chemical vapor 19Page: Previous 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Next
Last modified: September 9, 2013