Appeal 2007-3426
Application 10/400,954
microbattery containing any manner of anode, any manner of cathode, and
any manner of electrolyte separator, and has a volume of no more than
1 mm3, wherein the microbattery stores energy proportional to any thickness
in any dimension of the micro-battery. The open-ended, transitional term
“comprising” opens the claim to encompass microbatteries which contain
any manner of additional structure, parts and materials, such as any manner
of sealing and support structures, and additional anodes, cathodes and
electrolyte material. See, e.g., Vehicular Technologies Corp. v. Titan Wheel
Int’l, Inc., 212 F.3d 1377, 1383, 54 USPQ2d 1841, 1845 (Fed. Cir. 2000);
Genentech Inc. v. Chiron Corp., 112 F.3d 495, 501, 42 USPQ2d 1608, 1613
(Fed. Cir. 1997); In re Baxter, 656 F.2d 679, 686, 210 USPQ 795, 802
(CCPA 1981). Claim 9 depends on claim 1 and specifies the micro-battery
is “manufactures according to soft lithography techniques.” Thus, claim 9 is
couched in product-by-process format. See, e.g., In re Thorpe, 777 F.2d
695, 697, 227 USPQ 964, 966 (Fed. Cir. 1985). Claim 2 depends on claim 1
and specifies the electrolyte separator is approximately, that is, about, one
millimeter thick.
In addition to the Examiner’s findings with respect to the teachings of
LaFollette, we find LaFollette would have disclosed to one of ordinary skill
in this art microscopic batteries, that is, microbatteries, having an area within
the range 1 mm2 to 1 µm2 and a volume within the range 1 mm3 to
1 µm3 (LaFollette, e.g., col. 8. ll. 52-54, and col. 9, ll. 55-58). LaFollette
discloses the microbatteries can be prepared by “[l]ithographic processes,
including but not limited to photolithography, . . . applied in known manner
consistent with the microscopic battery to be formed,” which “processing is
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