Ex Parte Cho et alDownload PDFBoard of Patent Appeals and InterferencesSep 28, 201111077995 (B.P.A.I. Sep. 28, 2011) Copy Citation UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE ____________ BEFORE THE BOARD OF PATENT APPEALS AND INTERFERENCES ____________ Ex parte HYUN SAM CHO, KYUNG RYUL HAN and KI JEON SONG ____________ Appeal 2009-012783 Application 11/077,995 Technology Center 1700 ____________ Before ADRIENE LEPIANE HANLON, PETER F. KRATZ, and MICHAEL P. COLAIANNI, Administrative Patent Judges. KRATZ, Administrative Patent Judge. DECISION ON APPEAL This is a decision on an appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 134 from the Examiner’s final rejection of claims 1-3, 5, 7, 8, and 10-18. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 6. Appeal 2009-012783 Application 11/077995 2 Appellants’ invention relates to abrasive tools, particularly a polycrystalline compact such as polycrystalline diamond (PCD) and/or polycrystalline cubic boron nitride (PCBN), which is used for the production of such tools (Spec., 21, ll. 10-25). Appellants employ intermediate layers between polycrystalline layers and a substrate, which is said to reduce delamination (Spec. 3, l. 25 – 4, l. 23). Claim 1 is illustrative and reproduced below: 1. A polycrystalline compact, comprising: a) a metal substrate having a first surface and a second surface, wherein the first and second surfaces are non-contiguous; b) a first polycrystalline layer attached to the first surface using a first intermediate layer, said first polycrystalline layer including first superabrasive particles bonded together and said first intermediate layer including a consolidated mixture of first intermediate superabrasive particles, a first binder metal from about 5 vol% to about 25 vol%, and a first bonding medium from about 5 vol% to about 25 vol%; and c) a second polycrystalline layer attached to the second surface using a second intermediate layer, said second polycrystalline layer including second superabrasive particles bonded together and said second intermediate layer including a consolidated mixture of second intermediate superabrasive particles, a second binder metal from about 5 vol% to about 25 vol%, and a second bonding medium from about 5 vol% to about 25 vol%, wherein the first and second intermediate layers each comprise from about 50 to about 99 vol% superabrasive particles. The Examiner relies on the following prior art references as evidence in rejecting the appealed claims: Nakai 4,403,015 Sep. 6, 1983 1 Our reference to page 2 is to the first of two pages bearing this page number. Appeal 2009-012783 Application 11/077995 3 Frushour 5,011,515 Apr. 30, 1991 Cho 5,011,514 Apr. 30, 1991 Goudemond WO03/070417 Aug. 28, 2003 Claims 1, 5, 7, 8, 14, 17 and 18 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable over Goudemond in view of Nakai. Claims 10-13 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable over Goudemond in view of Nakai and Frushour. Claims 2, 3, 15, and 16 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable over Goudemond in view of Nakai and Cho. We affirm the stated rejections for substantially the reasons set forth by the Examiner in the Examiner’s Answer. We add the following for emphasis. Concerning the Examiner’s first stated ground of rejection; Appellants argue the rejected claims as a group. Accordingly, we select claim 1 as the representative claim on which we decide this appeal as to this ground of rejection. Appellants limit their argument with respect to the other grounds of rejection pertaining to certain dependent claims to the features argued with respect to claim 1 and the first ground of rejection (Br. 17-19). The Examiner relies on Goudemond for teaching a “metal cemented carbide substrate having surfaces on opposite sides over which at least one polycrystalline strip or layer of a compact of superabrasive particles are bounded to each of the major surfaces”; and the Examiner relies on Nakai for teaching, and for suggesting for use in Goudemond, an intermediate bonding layer corresponding to that claimed by Appellants (Ans. 3-5). Appellants center their arguments on the amount of bonding medium required to be present in the claimed intermediate layers. In particular, it is Appeal 2009-012783 Application 11/077995 4 argued that Nakai teaches away from, rather than teaching toward intermediate layers that include about 5 volume percent to about 25 volume percent of bonding medium therein, as required by claim 1 (Br. 15). Thus, the combined teachings of Goudemond and Nakai would lead to a compact having an intermediate layer that has a different composition than that recited in claim 1, according to Appellants (Br. 14-17). The dispositive issue can be stated as follows: Have Appellants indicated by their argument that Nakai teaches away from intermediate layers that include bonding medium in amounts corresponding to that required by claim 1? We answer this question in the negative. Appellants urge that the combined teachings of Goudemond and Nakai would not lead one of ordinary skill in the art to the claimed subject matter because “Nakai teaches that the carbides, nitrides, carbonitrides, borides, of 4a, 5a, 6a metals have a volume of at least 30% or the intermediate layer is “rendered brittle.” See col. 6, lines 28-44” (Br. 14). Thus, Nakai teaches an amount of bonding medium (“nitrides, carbides, and carbonitrides of Group Ivb, Vb, or VIb metals”) that must be outside of the claim 1 requirements (“about 5 vol% to about 25 vol%”) to avoid a brittle intermediate layer, according to Appellants. (Br. 14-17; Spec. 13, ll. 16-19). Like the Examiner, we disagree with Appellants’ teaching away assessment of Nakai. In this regard, the referenced portion of Nakai (col. 6, ll. 28-40) states2: If the CBN content of the intermediate bonding layer is in excess of 70 volume %, the residual part, that is, the 2 CBN refers to cubic boron nitride (Nakai, col. 1, ll. 9-15). Appeal 2009-012783 Application 11/077995 5 content of carbides, nitrides, carbonitrides, borides, etc. of 4a, 5a, 6a metals of the periodic table, is inevitably reduced to an amount less than 30 volume %, whereby the ratio of formation of mutual solid solutions with WC on the interface between the intermediate bonding layer and the cemented carbide substrate is relatively reduced, while the boride produced by the reaction between WC-Co and CBN is excessively increased with the result that the intermediate bonding layer is rendered brittle. Thus the CBN content of the intermediate bonding layer is preferably less than 70 volume %. Contrary to Appellants’ argument, the cited passage clearly teaches that the CBN content of the intermediate bonding layer is preferably below 70 volume percent to avoid the brittleness problem upon interaction of the substrate with the CBN. The referenced residual part of the intermediate layer being more than 30 volume % is best understood as resulting from a subtraction operation (100% - 70%) for the disclosed option where a binder metal is not employed in the intermediate layer of Nakai as argued by the Examiner (Ans. 10-12), rather than providing an additional compositional requirement for the intermediate layer so as to prevent the brittleness problem as contended by Appellants. Appellants have not substantiated that having the content of carbides, nitrides, carbonitrides, borides, etc. of 4a, 5a, 6a metals of the periodic table in an amount less than 30 volume percent in the intermediate layer of Nakai, when a binding metal is included in the intermediate layer as further disclosed by Nakai, would have been logically expected to independently increase the likelihood of interaction between the substrate and CBN such that brittleness of the intermediate layer would result. On the other hand, the Examiner’s interpretation of Nakai is consistent with the remaining disclosure and the claims of Nakai. In this Appeal 2009-012783 Application 11/077995 6 regard, Nakai makes it clear that Al or Si (binding metal3) can also be advantageously included in the intermediate layer, as another option (Nakai, col. 4, ll. 49-60, col. 5, ll. 37-44, and col. 6, ll. 8-15).4 Hence, Appellants have not shown that there is any discouragement that can be derived from the teachings of Nakai with respect to forming the intermediate layer thereof using amounts of super abrasive particles (CBN), bonding medium, and Al (binding metal) corresponding to the ranges recited in Appellants’ claim 1. In particular, this is because the alternative intermediate layer composition disclosed by Nakai wherein a binding metal (Al) is also included in the intermediate layer, as noted above, is consistent with Nakai’s disclosure of using less than 70 volume percent of CBN to avoid interaction thereof with the substrate without requiring that the content of carbides, nitrides, carbonitrides, borides, etc. of 4a, 5a, 6a metals of the periodic table in the intermediate layer must be 30 volume percent or more. After all, a disclosure of one alternative does teach away from the other disclosed alternatives. In re Fulton, 391 F.3d 1195, 1201 (Fed. Cir. 2004) (“[t]he prior art’s mere disclosure of more than one alternative does not constitute a teaching away from any of these alternatives because such disclosure does not criticize, discredit, or otherwise discourage the solution claimed in the … application”). 3 Appellants disclose that the claimed binding metal can include Al (Spec. 13). 4 Appellants do not particularly argue that Nakai would not have suggested using amounts of Al in the intermediate layer corresponding to amounts within the range claimed by Appellants for binder metal in the intermediate layer. Appeal 2009-012783 Application 11/077995 7 Consequently, Appellants have not established that Nakai teaches away from using less than 30 volume % of bonding medium in the intermediate layers by pointing to one of the options disclosed by Nakai wherein no additional Si or Al (binding metal) is incorporated in the intermediate layer. ORDER The Examiner’s decision to reject the appealed claims is affirmed. No time period for taking any subsequent action in connection with this appeal may be extended under 37 C.F.R. § 1.136(a). AFFIRMED tc Copy with citationCopy as parenthetical citation