Appeal No. 95-2320
Application No. 08/074,517
the bottom wall to be immediately above the connection conductive
layer. When this term is construed in light of the disclosure,
it means that the bottom wall is directly above the connection
conductive layer so as to cover the connection conductive layer
and not above the connection conductive layer, but off to one
side. The examiner’s interpretation effectively reads the term
immediately out of the claim since the examiner interprets the
language to mean that the bottom wall may be located anywhere in
relation to the connection conductive layer so long as it is
somewhere in a plane at a higher level than the connection
conductive layer. If the examiner’s interpretation is accepted,
there would have been no need for appellants to include the term
immediately.
With regard to Billig, the examiner appears to contend
[answer - page 8] that there is a concave portion which has a
bottom wall formed immediately above the connection conductive
layer 14 within insulating layer 15. However, it is not clear
what the bottom wall would be in Billig. If it is the top
surface of layer 13, then, clearly, this bottom wall would be
beneath, and not above, connection conductive element 14, as
required by the instant claims. If the examiner is somehow
referring to film 30 over the top of element 14, it is not
5
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007