Appeal No. 1998-2397
Application No. 08/654,708
claims 8, 10 through 18, 24, and 25 remain before us on
appeal.
Appellant's invention relates to a system for testing
semiconductor wafer clamps for wear. Claim 8 is illustrative
of the claimed invention, and it reads as follows:
8. A wear testing system for a wafer clamp, the wafer
clamp designed to hold a wafer of a predetermined size, the
wafer clamp having a ledge portion around an opening, the
ledge portion having an overlap region that overlaps the edge
of the wafer by an initial overlap distance to hold the wafer
in place during processing, the wear testing system
comprising:
a testing object having a shape that prevents the wafer
clamp from slipping past an upper portion of the testing
object when the clamp has not been worn, and a shape that
permits a wafer clamp that is worn to slip past said upper
portion.
The prior art of record relied upon by the examiner in
rejecting the appealed claims is:
Appellant's admitted prior art Figures 1 and 2 (AAPA)
Hrovath1 4,744,713 May 17, 1988
Claims 8, 10 through 18, 24, and 25 stand rejected under
35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over AAPA.
Although the examiner did not rely on this reference in the rejection,1
he did rely on it in the arguments section of the Answer.
2
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