Appeal No. 1997-3360
Application No. 08/119,785
(3) Cleveland, U.S. Patent 2,961,354 (1960),
is reversed.
Initially, we note that appealed claim 1, the sole
independent claim, recites the step of “(a) providing a wafer
to be cleaned, said wafer with exposed metal regions”
(emphasis added). However, neither the examiner nor the
appellants have explored whether Basi ‘457 or Basi ‘954
describes this claim element and, if not, whether one of
ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to apply
the method described in either of these two prior art
references to a “wafer with exposed metal regions.” Even
assuming that Basi ‘457 or Basi ‘954 describes this claim
element, for the reasons which follow, we reverse.
Appealed claim 1 also recites the step of “(b) applying a
solution consisting essentially of water and ammonium
hydroxide to said wafer while simultaneously applying an
ultrasonic energy to said solution” (emphasis added). The
examiner has determined that Basi ‘457 and Basi ‘954 do not
describe “simultaneous application of ultrasonic energy to a
solution consisting essentially of water plus ammonium
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