Appeal No. 1997-3390
Application No. 08/354,384
invention." Para-Ordnance Mfg. v. SGS Importers Int'l, Inc.,
73 F.3d 1085, 1087, 37 USPQ2d 1237, 1239 (Fed. Cir. 1995),
cert. denied, 519 U.S. 822 (1996) citing W.L. Gore & Assoc.,
Inc. v. Garlock, Inc., 721 F.2d 1540, 1548, 220 USPQ 303, 309
(Fed. Cir. 1983), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 851 (1984).
Appellants on page 5 of the brief argue that Santangelo
teaches merely a method for low pressure deposition of metal
layers on the back of a semiconductor substrate while Merz
discloses flame spraying for coating metal substrates such as
steel and copper. Appellants add that Merz does not provide
any suggestion to use flame spraying for forming a metal layer
on a semiconductor substrate. Additionally, Appellants on
page 6 of the brief point out that bead or grit blasting of
the substrate prior to flame spraying, as taught by Merz,
destroys the surface of the semiconductor substrate of
Santangelo. Appellants conclude that combining Merz with
Santangelo is neither possible nor suggested by any of the
references.
The Examiner on pages 4 and 5 of the answer responds to
Appellants’ arguments by stating that the reason to combine is
taught by Merz in column 3, lines 53 and 54 that any suitable
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