Appeal No. 1998-3043
Application 08/667,587
TECHNOLOGIES FOR 16M DRAM” in the publication IEDM and
published in 1988. The discussion of “field-shield isolation”
in that article on page 247 appears below and is not
inconsistent with the appellants’ definition of field shield
isolation:
The field-shield isolation is a three layer
structure consisting of a thin thermal oxide (field-
shield gate oxide), a doped polysilicon (field-
shield plate) deposited on the thin gate oxide and a
CVD oxide layer deposited on the polysilicon plate.
In the Abstract, the article explains that field-shield
isolation “enables the isolation region to reduce down to a
half-micron.”
In light of the foregoing, it is evident that “field-
shield isolation structure” refers to the internal
configurations of a semiconductor device. Of course, this
structure is defined in part by what it does, but it is well
established that product claims may include process steps to
wholly or partially define the claimed product. See, e.g., In
re Luck, 476 F.2d 650, 653, 177 USPQ 523, 525 (CCPA 1973). To
the extent these process limitations distinguish the product
over the prior art, they must be given the same consideration
as traditional product characteristics. Id. Consider also the
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