Appeal No. 2000-0572
Application 08/687,643
shelves and/or wafer-shaped objects. The examiner’s finding
(see pages 3 and 4 in the answer) that Birkner’s
optoelectronic sensor arrangement measures within a horizontal
plane a distance to the edges of the wafer-shaped objects and
magazine shelves relative to the transmitter as recited in
claim 1 is completely lacking in factual support.
Accordingly, we shall not sustain the standing 35 U.S.C.
§ 102(a) rejection of claim 1 and dependent claim 12 as being
anticipated by Birkner.
Holman discloses a wafer cassette mapper “in which a
single light transmitter/receiver module is employed to
provide information indicating the presence or absence of a
wafer in each slot of the wafer cassette, as well as
information indicating a cross slotted condition” (column 2,
lines 51 through 55).
Inasmuch as the Holman mapper does not cure the foregoing
flaw in Birkner with respect to the subject matter recited in
parent claim 1, we shall not sustain the standing 35 U.S.C.
§ 103(a) rejection of dependent claims 2 and 11 as being
unpatentable over Birkner in view of Holman.
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