Appeal No. 95-2413
Application 07/936,865
of claim interpretation, "desired" is a very broad term and,
in our opinion, the "desired" erosion pattern can be
interpreted as the actual erosion pattern corresponding to the
selected shape of the closed-loop path. We do not read into
the claim any implied process-of-designing limitations that
"desired" means a perfect correspondence between the intended
erosion pattern and the actual erosion pattern. For these
reasons, the rejection of independent claim 29 and dependent
claims 30 and 33 is sustained.
Claim 13 recites that the magnetic means has a
"centerline . . . configured to conform to a mathematical
equation such that a substantial portion of said target
cathode undergoes erosion in a preselected pattern, said
preselected erosion pattern being expressible as a
mathematical equation." As discussed with respect to
claim 29, one of ordinary skill in the art would have had
sufficient knowledge and skill to apply the planar target
teachings of the main references to the non-planar target of
Wegmann. Every point on the target swept by this spiral would
be exposed uniformly to produce a uniform "preselected
pattern." In addition, as a matter of claim interpretation,
- 24 -
Page: Previous 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007