Appeal No. 1998-1211
Application No. 08/448,955
ordinary skill in the art would have understood that the
pulsing deposition of Flamm would form such an adsorption
layer. In addition, since Flamm is not directed to forming a
marker for an etching process, one of ordinary skill in the
art would not have been motivated by Flamm to modify the
process of Fujii.
The examiner's rejection of claims 7, 12, 26 and 27 is
another matter. Unlike claims 4 and 15, claim 7 does not
require interrupting the deposition step, performed in the
presence of a marker material, to allow the adsorption of the
marker material. Claim 7 simply calls for "forming a periodic
sequence of homogeneous markers within the bulk of a layer of
a predetermined material during deposition of said
predetermined material." As explained in our decision in the
parent application (Appeal No. 1997-4031), decided
concurrently herewith, Fujii discloses an interruption between
the deposition of first and second insulating layers for
forming a gaseous adsorption layer which serves as a marker
during etching. Although Fujii does not expressly disclose
forming a periodic sequence of such markers, we are of the
view that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill
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