Appeal No. 1999-0239
Application No. 08/520,003
The examiner maintains (Answer, pages 3, 5, and 7) that
Saito's aluminum film can be considered four films of
aluminum. Specifically, the examiner states (Answer, page 5)
that "Saito's aluminum layer may be characterized as one, two,
three, or four aluminum films ... because there are no
structural details which distinguish one film from the others
in appellant's claimed structure." The examiner further
clarifies his position (Answer, page 7) wherein he explains,
"An aluminum layer is nothing more than a mass of aluminum
atoms having a particular shape. Since the atoms are
typically deposited one-by-one on the surface of a structure
(as they would be in Saito's sputtering technique) any sub-
group of atoms could be called a layer."
Appellant argues (Brief, page 5) that the examiner's
characterization of Saito's aluminum film as three or four
distinct films is contrary to Saito's clear disclosure of a
single layer of aluminum. Appellant further asserts (Reply
Brief, page 3) that the examiner's characterization of an
aluminum layer being "nothing more than a mass of aluminum
atoms having a particular shape" is contrary to the definition
of "layer."
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