Ex parte SHINAGAWA et al. - Page 6




          Appeal No. 1997-3993                                       Page 6           
          Application No. 08/462,561                                                  


               With this as background, we analyze the specific                       
          rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 112, second paragraph, made by the              
          examiner of the claims on appeal.  Specifically, the examiner               
          stated (answer, p. 6) with respect to claim 10 that                         
               it is unclear whether the recitation "adapted for" is                  
               intended to express a mere statement of intended use, or               
               whether it is intended to be a structural limitation.  If              
               it is intended to be a structural limitation, it is                    
               unclear what structure would meet such a limitation.                   


               The appellants responded to this rejection (reply brief,               
          p. 2) by stating that "it is quite clear from the application               
          considered as a whole that the recitation "adapted for" is                  
          intended to be a statement of intended use."  The appellants                
          assert (reply brief, p. 1) that the recitation "adapted for"                
          is conventional and does not render the claims indefinite.                  


               Claim 10 recites an apparatus for ashing an organic film               
          as part of a semiconductor device production process                        
          comprising, inter alia, an evacuatable plasma chamber adapted               
          for conducting a plasma ashing procedure in a vacuum                        
          environment.  In our view, it is quite clear that the                       








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