Appeal No. 1997-3162
Application 08/540,961
pattern 3 to be discontinuous. Kikuchi overcomes the problems
by making the pattern width L3 of the contact formation area
13a, the pattern width L4 of the lead area 13b, and the
pattern width L6 of the protrusion area 13d wider than the
pattern width L5 of the gate area 13c (translation, page 5).
Shimizu discloses that trench isolation is an alternative
to the conventional LOCOS isolation method (col. 2,
lines 30-35). Trench isolation has several disadvantages
which prevent it from being widely used (col. 2, line 67 to
col. 3, line 20).
Claims 18, 2, and 3 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103
as being unpatentable over Kikuchi and Shimizu.
We refer to the Final Rejection (Paper No. 18) and the
Examiner's Answer (Paper No. 25) (pages referred to as "EA__")
for a statement of the Examiner's position and to the Appeal
Brief (Paper No. 23) (pages referred to as "Br__") and the
Reply Brief (Paper No. 26) (pages referred to as "RBr__") for
a statement of Appellants' arguments thereagainst.
OPINION
Kikuchi discloses a gate structure having widened
portions where it crosses over the edge of the surrounding
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