Appeal No. 1998-1548 Page 5
Application No. 08/660,304
insulative layer. The examiner relies upon the teachings of
Tominaga (Figure 3f) for an alignment mark formed by a recess
or groove, and concludes that "it would have been obvious to
form a groove for use as an alignment mark . . . because this
is conventional as noted by Tominaga." Additionally, the
examiner relies upon Oka's teaching of an accessory pattern in
an insulating film, concluding that "it would have been
obvious to form an alignment mark in the oxide film on the
wiring layer in the prior art figures for the same reason,
i.e., to save space."
In the alternative line of reasoning presented, the
examiner considers the teachings of Oka in view of the APA and
Tominaga, taking the position (answer, pages 5 and 6) that Oka
teaches each layer recited in claim 1, with the exception of
the anti-reflective-coating layer. The examiner relies upon
Tominaga for a teaching of replacing the raised area of 18, 20
of Figure 2 of the APA with alignment marks formed by recesses
or grooves, as taught by Tominaga (Figure 3f). According to
the examiner, it would have been obvious to increase the
visibility of the Oka mark by providing Oka with an ARC layer
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