Appeal 2006-3235
Reexamination Control No. 90/006,696
1 4. The specification discusses Hiatt and Fleuren without mentioning
2 that they concern failure analysis. Specifically, the specification explains
3 that the methods disclosed in Hiatt and Fleuren are unable to detect low-
4 power hot spots:
5 Both the cholesteric and nematic liquid crystal have been used
6 for detecting hot spot (see reference 1[Hiatt] and 2 [Fleuren]).
7 Hiatt . . . reported that with a cross polarized light and a LC-127
8 cholesteric liquid crystal, he obtained a spatial resolution of ten
9 to twenty microns. Also, the heating was not used, therefore
10 the lowest detectable power of the hot spot is in the range of
11 one hundred to two hundred milliwatts. [Fleuren] reported the
12 use of a N5 nematic liquid crystal phase to detect hot spots.
13 The particular nematic liquid he used is called N5. He used a
14 P.I.D. control and achieved a constant temperature of 0.1
15 degree [C]elsius to a specified temperature. He could routinely
16 detect a hot spot of 100 microwatts or more, with the P.I.D.
17 control. However, by chance, if the liquid crystal's ambient
18 temperature happens to be much less than 0.1 degree celsius
19 (say a 0.005 degree celsius) below the liquid crystal phase
20 transition temperature, he could detect a lower power hot spot.
21 He managed to detect a hot spot of 3.6 microwatts once.
22 Specification, col. 1, ll. 18-35.24
23 6. The specification asserts that Appellant’s hot spot detection
24 method is capable of routinely detecting hot spots having powers of as low
25 as one or two microwatts. Id. at col. 1, ll. 57-62.
26 7. The “Summary of the Invention” (“Summary”) in the specification
27 similarly explains that “[t]his invention invented [sic] a few processes that
28 significantly improve the effectiveness of the liquid crystal hot spot
24 The only other discussion of Hiatt and Fleuren in the ‘857 patent
(also in the Background) is to explain that “[p]rior to this invention, the
heating mode was either conductive (see reference 2 [Fleuren]) or no heating
at all (see reference 1 [Hiatt]).” Specification, col. 1, ll. 47-49.
14
Page: Previous 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Next
Last modified: September 9, 2013