Appeal 2007-0619
Application 10/178,008
The [E]xaminer takes Official Notice that it is known to check
dimensions of products, as in claim 2, in order to ensure that
product quality standards are met…..
Hawker et al., at column 1, lines 15-36, note that it is known to
use an elastomeric printing stamp to transfer a pattern using soft
lithography and further note at column 7, lines 30-37 that
Kumar et al., among others, practice such a soft lithography
technique…The [E]xaminer takes Official Notice that it is
known to assess quality of a transferred pattern, as in claim 4,
in order to determine if a product is meeting desired
specifications. (See Br. 3-6 and Reply Br. 1-5).
The Appellants only contend that Kumar and Shepard do not suggest using
an injection molded stamp master (mold or mold surface) in Kumar’s
method (Br. 3-6 and Reply Br. 1-5). The Examiner disagrees with this
contention (Answer 4-6).
Thus, the dispositive question is whether Kumar and Shepard as a
whole would have provided some teaching or suggestion to employ an
injection molded plastic stamp master (mold or mold surface) in the method
described in Kumar within the meaning of 35 U.S.C. § 103(a). On this
record, we answer this question in the affirmative.
At column 9, line 47 to column 10, line 13 of Kumar referred to by
the Appellants (Br. 4), Kumar teaches that its stamp master (mold surface)
may be prepared by various known techniques. Specifically, Kumar states
(col. 9, ll. 47-54) that:
In its broadest sense, mold surface 42 may comprise any
surface having morphological features that may desirably serve
as a template for the formation of a stamp, hence the patterning
of a molecular species on a surface. For example, a
microelectronic device such as a chip may serve as a template,
as may any other corrugated or indented surface. Mold surface
7
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