Appeal No. 1997-3420
Application No. 08/371,227
insulating the center mask from the target cooling means would
substantially alter the structure and operation of the Braeuer
invention, which would operate as a disincentive to one of
ordinary skill in the art to make such an modification, in our
view.
As to the second difference, the examiner points out that
Bourez teaches applying a voltage across the anode (center
post 26) and the cathode (annular assembly 12) to cause the
target to generate the atoms which then are deposited on the
substrate (column 6, lines 13-19), and that Anderle discloses
a sputtering system in which the substrate is in contact with
the central mask and the substrate holder. From this, the
examiner concludes that “[a]s to the substrate holder applying
an anodic potential to the center mask,” such would have been
obvious “since Bourez et al. teaches that a voltage can be
applied to the central mask” (Answer, page 10). We cannot
agree. Claim 4 requires not only that the center mask be
anodized, but that it “is anodized by being contacted with
said substrate holding means during sputtering” (emphasis
added). Even if one were to consider that the center mask in
Anderle is in an anodic condition during sputtering, there is
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