Appeal No. 96-2740
Application No. 08/242,602
OPINION
We reverse.
In describing the application of APA at page 3 of the answer, the examiner admits
that APA does not describe the predetermined patterns being positionally aligned based
upon the difference of the thermal coefficients of the substrates. However, the examiner
says at pages 3-4 of the answer,
...the mask is used to block light at certain areas and it is known
that thermal expansion causes larger gaps between elements. One of
ordinary skill would therefore expect misalignment between the mask
and the portion to be covered due to the thermal expansion (barring
some sort of compensation).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in
the art at the time the invention was made to place the mask such that the
changes due to thermal expansion are compensated for prior to expansion.
First, the examiner’s rationale does not even address the claimed limitation of the
relationship between the “dimension” of the first pattern and the “dimension” of the black
mask pattern, viz., “presetting the first pattern to have a dimension greater than a preset
dimension of the black mask pattern by an amount equal to the difference of the thermal
expansion of the first and second substrates...”
Moreover, the examiner’s rationale appears to be based on hindsight gleaned from
appellants’ own disclosure because there is no evidence of a suggestion for the
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Last modified: November 3, 2007