Appeal No. 2005-1459
Application No. 09/950,612
According to appellants, the invention is directed to novel
abrasive slurries for chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP), where
the slurries consist essentially of at least two inorganic metal
oxides to provide improved metal polish rates, controlled polish
rate selectivity, and low surface defectivity (Brief, page 2).
Appellants state that each claim should be considered
individually (Brief, page 3). To the extent appellants provide
specific, substantive reasons for the patentability of individual
claims, we consider these claims separately. See 37 CFR
§ 1.192(c)(7)(8)(2003); In re McDaniel, 293 F.3d 1379, 1383,
63 USPQ2d 1462, 1465 (Fed. Cir. 2002). Representative
independent claim 1 is reproduced below:
1. In an abrasive slurry adapted for use in chemical-
mechanical polishing of metals and oxides:
the improvement wherein the slurry consists essentially
only of a mixture of at least two inorganic metal oxides
selected from the group consisting of ceria, silica,
alumina, zirconia, germania and titania.
The examiner has relied on Robinson et al. (Robinson), U.S.
Patent No. 6,062,952, issued May 16, 2000, as the sole evidence
of unpatentability. Claims 1, 2 and 5 stand rejected under
35 U.S.C. § 112, second paragraph, as indefinite (Answer, page
2
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