Appeal 2006-3193
Application 10/772,595
on plating efficiency and an adverse effect on the bonding of the plated alloy
and substrate (Br. 9-10).
The Examiner contends that one of ordinary skill in the art would
have been motivated to have included an acetylenic brightener in the method
of JP ‘693 in view of Passal’s disclosure that such brighteners, when used
alone or in combination in a nickel-cobalt containing bath composition, may
produce semi-lustrous, fine grained deposits (Answer 6).
Based on the contentions of the Appellants and the Examiner, the
issue for us to decide is: Do the facts and reasons relied on by the Examiner
provide a reasonable basis to conclude that one of ordinary skill in the art
would have been motivated to combine the teachings of the references in the
manner claimed?
For the reasons well stated in the Examiner’s Answer, and further
discussed below, we answer this question in the affirmative.
FINDINGS OF FACT – CLAIM INTERPRETATION
The Specification includes the following disclosure:
1) “The present invention provides quaternary alloys containing at
least nickel and cobalt. . . . At least two of many other alloy metals, such
as iron and boron, are also contained in the quaternary alloys. In this
context, the quaternary alloys contain at least four metal components.”
(Specification 2:3-7).
2) “The two or more alloy metals are any metals that can be
electroplated in a compatible manner with nickel and cobalt generally
include transition metals. Examples of transition metals include . . .
boron, . . . zinc, and the like” (Specification 5:8-14). “Examples of alloy
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