Appeal No. 2001-0046
Application 08/971,014
Examiner must not only identify the elements in the prior art,
but also show “some objective teaching in the prior art or that
knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art
would lead the individual to combine the relevant teachings of
the references.” In re Fine, 837 F.2d 1071, 1074, 5 USPQ2d 1596,
1598 (Fed. Cir. 1988).
Our review of Sekiguchi confirms that, as conceded by the
Examiner, the reference discloses a process for forming contacts
in an integrated circuit. However, as depicted in figure 23q,
Sekiguchi forms the second material (oxide layer 20) to cover the
first material over contact region 4b (nitride layer 11a) after
conductive layer 13 is formed in a cavity over the contact region
(Col. 25, lines 19-23). Sekiguchi further teaches that contact
hole 9b2 is formed by etching the second material layer while
nitride layer 11a and nitride sidewall layer 11b function as etch
stoppers (Col. 25, lines 23-29). Therefore, Sekiguchi forms a
cavity with vertical walls formed of the first and the second
material having no bottom of an upper portion. The only bottom
portion in Sekiguchi is the top surface of conductive plug 13
that is formed over contact region 4b.
Turning now to Takaishi, we find that the reference relates
to a memory cell array in which stacked capacitors are formed in
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