Appeal No. 2005-1220
Application No. 09/270,606 Page 16
the electrical conductivity thereof and only selectively removes
same; that is, removes portions thereof. See column 27, lines 5-
11 of Kodera. Also, Kodera employs the amorphous silicon film
233A to form another insulating layer therefrom. See column 30,
lines 15-19 of Kodera. Consequently, Kodera also reasonably
appears to suggest the process of representative claim 17 in
those other embodiments, as seemingly acknowledged by appellant
but for the dummy structure argument, which we do not find
persuasive.
Concerning claim 15, appellant maintains that the combined
references’ teachings would not suggest using ethylene glycol for
the purposes identified by appellant. However, for reasons
discussed above, the collective teachings of the references do
suggest using ethylene glycol in the polishing slurry of Kodera
as a dispersing agent and appellant has not persuasively rebutted
that position of the examiner. As noted above, the rationale
provided by the collective teachings of the applied references
for making a particular modification of a reference need not be
the same as that disclosed by appellant for the modification to
be obvious within the meaning of § 103.
Finally, with regard to claim 20, appellant presents a
similar argument regarding the obviousness of adding ethylene
glycol to the slurry of Kodera. For the reasons advanced above,
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