Appeal No. 2003-0688
Application No. 09/324,889
the language employed in the claims must be analyzed, not in a
vacuum, but always in light of the teachings of the prior art and
the application disclosure as it would be interpreted by one of
ordinary skill in the art. See In re Angstadt, 537 F.2d 498,
501, 190 USPQ 214, 217 (CCPA 1976). Here, we determine that the
examiner has not met this burden for the following reasons.
The examiner has not convincingly explained why the claims
do not set out and circumscribe a particular area with a
reasonable degree of precision and particularity. At the bottom
of page 3 and the top of page 4, of appellants’ specification,
the specification discloses that materials are selected to
provide an electrical flow path through the contacts to discharge
any electrical charge which may build up on the substrate during
processing. At the top of page 6 of the specification, the
specification discloses that the substrate can be supported on as
few as three contacts. Appellants' Fig. 7 illustrates how the
substrate is supported by the blade and contacts. On page 5 of
the specification, the specification discloses that lateral
shoulders can be any shape to conform to the shape of the
substrate being supported. On page 9 of the specification, the
specification discloses that Fig. 15 is a schematic diagram of an
exemplary integrated cluster tool 60. A robot can be
incorporated into a first transfer chamber of the cluster tool
and allows transfer of substrates from one location to another.
Finally, with regard to the word "semi-conductive", page 7 of the
specification, beginning at line 5, clearly defines this word and
provides examples of materials. Hence, the specification clearly
describes each aspect of the claims found problematic by the
examiner (as mentioned above) such that the claims are definate.
In view of the specification disclosure clarifying the claim
language in combination with the lack of explanation by the
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