Appeal No. 94-3910
Application No. 07/966,615
"extending the length" in two places of independent claim 21
from which the remaining claims ultimately depend. Lines 9-10
of claim 21 read in relevant part, "said slots . . . extending
the length of said source/drain regions," and line 12 reads in
relevant part, "a first plurality of conductive layers . . .
extending the length of the exposed portion of said
source/drain regions." The examiner reads these sections as
indicating, respectively, that the slots cause the
source/drain regions to become longer and the conductive
layers cause the exposed portion to become longer. The
correct and sufficiently clear meaning of these quoted
sections is that, respectively, the slots are at least as long
as the source/drain regions, and the conductive layers are at
least as long as the exposed portion of said source/drain
regions. The artisan would have no difficulty understanding
the scope of these claims in view of the specification.
Accordingly, we reverse this rejection of claims 21-28.
The rejection of Claims 21-28 under 35 U.S.C. § 103
Claims 21-28 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103.
Claims 21-23 and 25-28 are rejected under § 103 as obvious
over Sugiura in view of Takasaki. Claim 24 is rejected under
7
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