Appeal No. 1998-3045
Application 08/612,693
With regard to the use of trim pads on the bottom of the substrate, neither Neumann
nor Tanaka discloses that feature. Moreover, the appellants’ specification expressly states
(page 3, lines 29-31):
Trim pads are well known in the industry, but are heretofore
only known to be located on the top side of the substrate in the
prior art.
The examiner states (answer at page 4):
However, as taught by Tanaka and Neumann, the location of
the trim pad could be arranged at arbitrary position (see
Tanaka) or out side of the lid, cap or shield (see Neumann).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the
art to modify the disclosed prior art by adopting the teaching of
Tanaka or Neumann to arrange the trim pad at any arbitrary
positions on the board including on the bottom side of the
board to be able to adjust microcircuits after the lid, cap or
shield is installed.
The examiner has not cited to any particular portion of Tanaka or Neumann. We do
not know in what section of either one of these two references the examiner believes exists
a suggestion that trim pads can be placed anywhere on a substrate including on the
bottom side. We also do not know which statements in the references is the examiner
relying on as the starting point to arrive at the appellants’ claimed invention. The
examiner’s conclusion is unsupported by a sufficiently identified factual basis.
Neumann’s invention is directed to a chip carrier with terminating resistive elements
that are integral to the chip carrier and further includes spare bonding pads and resistors
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