Appeal No. 98-0278
Application No. 08535,680
However, it cannot be gainsaid that the explicitly recited
steps of claim 11 encompass processes wherein positive
pressure is applied to the backside of the semiconductor wafer
while the wafer is in contact with the polishing pad. Indeed,
appellants acknowledge at page 15 of the principal brief, last
sentence, that rotation of the polishing pad during the
application of positive pressure is not excluded from the
scope of claim 11. Hence, we remain of the opinion that the
original specification does not provide descriptive support
for such a process, and appellants make no argument to the
contrary. While appellants cite the original patent
specification, column 3, lines 35-62, for description of
removing the polishing pad before pressure is applied, that is
not at issue here. Although the specification provides
descriptive support for removing the pad before applying
pressure, it does not describe applying pressure when the pad
is in contact with the wafer. Since claim 11 is sufficiently
broad to embrace both embodiments, the original specification
must describe both embodiments. Since the specification must
be as broad as its broadest claim, we will maintain the
rejection of claims 11-14 and 21 under § 112, first paragraph.
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